God-Centered Hope Expels Godless Hedonism (Philippians Sermon 18)

Introduction: Two Great Drives in the Universe

As I thought earlier in this week about the most famous and most expensive bowl of stew in history, I was thinking it must have been incredible. I mean, it must have really tasted good. Of course, I’m talking about when Esau came in from the field and was famished and spend a day of hunting and apparently came up empty. And his stomach was calling and he smelled Jacob’s stew bubbling and… I just thought it must have been incredible lentil stew. Now, I’ve never eaten a lentil stew that was worth selling a birthright for, but I thought it must have been an incredible stew. But then last few days, I think I changed a little bit and now I feel like it must have been probably leftovers, just heated up, because isn’t it what the devil does? I mean, wouldn’t that greatly honor the devil’s whole scheme, is to get somebody like Esau to trade it off for a below average bowl of soup.

Isn’t that in effect what C S Lewis said in, The Screwtape Letters when he said, “The whole program of the devil is to get you ever increasingly enslaved to something that ever decreasingly pleases you?” That’s what he’s about. And I think, therefore, it must have been leftovers, that he sold his birthright for. What a tragic thing that anybody would trade faith for something physical, that Abraham’s grandson would trade it all for a bowl of soup. And I’m thinking about this, that Abraham, the great man of faith, who turned his back on a lucrative lifestyle in early Chaldeans and sold most of it, and was willing to live in tents and never get what was promised to him and just lived by faith should have a grandson like that. What a scandal. What a tragedy.

But I see around me in the country I live in, and I see within me in my own nature, the same tendency, the same drive, as it were. And that drive is strong, isn’t it, brothers and sisters? And the sanctification that we’re called to is in direct opposition to that drive at every moment. John Piper has clarified for us that there are two great drives in the universe, strong and powerful drives. One is the drive that each individual person has to be happy. And the second is God’s drive to be glorified in and by his creation. These are strong drives, aren’t they? And you cannot resist or refute your internal drive to be happy, you can’t deny it. You can’t say it’s not there. You can do some things about it, we’re going to talk about those in this message, but you can’t refute it, because it’s there. And whether you know it or not, the other drive predated yours and is stronger, and more powerful, God will be glorified in his creation. That’s why we were created. And what John Piper’s done for me and for so many others is said that in effect the two become one for the believer. We find our happiness in God’s glory. We find the meeting of every need, anything that you could want, we find in God’s exaltation and his glory.

Now, the Apostle Paul writing this greatest probably of all thank you notes, book of Philippians, obviously has more than just thanking them for the money that he has in mind here. He is a pastor and he’s concerned about these folks. The background of his concern is in the devil’s relentless attack on the church. The devil is never going to let us alone, ever, for a moment our steps are going to be dogged by this enemy. And so he’s always pumping out things to try to stop the work of God, and in this one chapter, Philippians, we see two of his greatest lies. And what’s so interesting about them is that they’re in one sense, kind of opposites of each other. I think in the end they become the same thing, just different means, but they are legalism and license. We see them both in this chapter, legalism and license. And Paul, the pastor’s, concerned about both. He begins the chapter by looking at it, he’s concerned about it. He says, “Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh, for it is we who are the circumcision.” Now, we are the true circumcision, not those Judaizers who want to subjugate you Greeks into a system of laws and rules and regulations and sap all your joy.

“I want to tell you… ” in effect, he says in Philippians 3. “I want to tell you about my own pilgrimage. I came to reject all that as trash and all of my efforts in legalism led to nothing. A joyless existence. I found something that drove all of them out, and that was I saw Christ, the resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus. I saw His glory, and there was awakened in me such a longing and desire that has never been fully quenched. I stand as a man who’s satisfied, and yet never satisfied, always wanting more, but I know what it is I want. I want Christ. I want to know Christ. Even if it means suffering for me, even if it means death. I want to know him.” And so that drove out any concern over legalism. I knew that my legalistic life as a Pharisee would never lead me to Christ. Actually, was leading me away because it made me proud and hard and self-righteous, and I didn’t want any of that.” And so he says, “Be like me, follow my example, live like me.” And if, in some point, you think differently, God will make that clear to you too, okay. Because I’m not wrong about the Christian life. That’s what he’s saying. And so he’s resisted and he’s turned away from legalism. But now interestingly, he turns in verse 17 on toward the opposite error. And that’s this whole issue of license. And he wants to warn them about it.

Now, we’ve talked the last few weeks about verse 17, “Join with others and following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.” Well, we kind of took that verse out and talked about it on its own merits, and saw that across Paul’s writing, and really across the whole New Testament, that there’s a theology of discipleship here that was worth listening to. But now I want to set the verse back in its context and understand it in Philippians 3. And he’s saying, “I want you to follow my pattern because there are people around you who are living like godless hedonists, pagans, and that life leads to hell. It leads to destruction. And I want you to be warned about it.” So he’s a good pastor, you see. He’s warning against legalism on the one side and then he’s warning against license on the other. The interesting thing is that both, I think, in the end, turn out to be the same thing. Both of them are intensely me focused, aren’t they? Both of them looking inward like that Pharisee that was so self-righteous in Luke and stood up and prayed about himself. “God, I thank you that I’m not like other men.” Well, it’s very self-focused, that legalistic self-righteous approach, but so also is the God is their stomach approach too, isn’t it? Always thinking about, “My drive and what I want out of life. What my urges are and how to meet them.” It’s a very selfish way to live. And so we have selfishness in its religious garb, and then selfishness in its pagan garb, and it ends up about the same thing.

I. The Condemnation of Godless Hedonists

Now, when he talks about people whose God is their stomach, it’s an interesting phrase, isn’t it? Look at it again. He says in verse 18, “For as I often told you before, and I’ll say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ, their destiny is destruction.” Verse 19 he says, “Their God is their stomach and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.” Now, the stomach certainly was designed by God to digest food, and it does represent food here, I think certainly. But I think it goes deeper than food. I think it represents any fleshly drive, any appetite, any lust, any desire. Frankly, anything tied to the body and to an exclusively earthly lifestyle. If your stomach is your God, it means that the center and focus of your existence is meeting your earthly drives and desires. It’s why you’re alive. Your free time is spent on those drives and desires. Your free mental time is spent on them as well.

Frankly, all your time is spent on it because even in your professional life, or if you’re a student and you’re training and preparing, you’re thinking about meeting that drive and desire. The Book of Ecclesiastes says that all men’s efforts are for his mouth. And what it means is there’s just a focus on the earthly side of life to the exclusion of everything else. I think that’s what it means if your God is your stomach. In the end, you worship only yourself, and your own body drives, and you live to meet them. That’s all. Now, Esau is of course the ultimate biblical example. And so I brought into our pastoral ministry a while ago, the term, “Esauishness,” which doesn’t exist in the dictionary. I’ve looked it up, it’s not there. But you know what I mean, it’s what we live around all the time. America is surrounded… We’re surrounded by Esaus. We’re surrounded by people who live for their stomachs. And it’s a very difficult thing to observe. I worked for 10 years in industry, and I just… The motive, they put up with the work week and live for the weekend.

And it’s just a drive all the time toward the pleasure and toward physical delights. Hebrews 12:16 points this out concerning Esau, says, “See that no one is sexually immoral or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as his oldest son.” And so we have these overpowering drives of the flesh. Now, there are different strategies for dealing with them. The body itself is a remarkable gift of God, isn’t it? If you really think about it theologically, it is the highest pinnacle of God’s physical creation. I think He made nothing better than the human body, including the human mind. It’s the peak of what he made physically. And so you are amazing and intricate balance of biological systems, the circulatory system, the nervous, muscular, and skeletal systems, and the digestive system certainly, and the reproductive system, all of these things fearfully and wonderfully made, King David said. And it was a ground for praising God. It’s not a bad thing. We’re not Greeks saying that the body is evil and we must subject all of its strives.

Well, there are different strategies for dealing with these drives. Now, what drives are they? Well, drives for food and drink, to eat something that’s delicious and drink something that’s pleasing to the palette or drive for visual stimulation, for sights that are beautiful. Could be anything from a beautiful tree or flower, to a mountain, valley, or anything else that’s beautiful to your eye. Drive for sexual pleasure. A good thing from God. It receives an awful lot of press, doesn’t it? Even in the recent weeks, when you look at what’s happening in our country about marriage, at the core of it is the drive for meeting sexual needs. The drive for sensory comfort. A comfortable blanket on a cold night, I used that even recently. I like a nice, soft, warm blanket when the weather gets like it does, and we have insufficient insulation. Working on that.

But get out of the shower and your body is dripping, nothing like a plush thirsty towel. I mean, these are the sensory things of life, and they’re not evil. Skillfully-designed furniture, a couch that doesn’t have a spring poking up in your back, something like that. And these are not bad things. Jesus slept on a cushion in Mark’s Gospel in the back of the boat. What was the cushion there for? Well, ask him when you get to Heaven, but I think it was to make Him more comfortable. I would think you don’t need to go much further than that. And the drive for pleasing sounds, whatever your favorite music is. Those are all things that are around us. Now, the problem really comes ultimately with boundaries, doesn’t it? That’s the issue. The issue is that God has set boundaries around these drives. He’s given the drives, he’s given the desires, and then he put boundaries up. Says in Psalm 16, King David says, “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.” That’s a contented man, it’s somebody who’s happy and content with where the fences are set up in his life. But if you jump the fences, you become a transgressor. So there are fences, there are boundaries in life. Now one strategy of dealing with the fleshy drives and desires is to say, “There are no boundaries, literally, there are no fences anywhere.” That’s the ultimate of hedonism, the ultimate of me-ism, that I can have whatever brings me pleasure. Some people even kind of baptize this theologically and say that the death of Christ on the cross covers that so you can live any way you want. That is the grace of God transformed into a license for immorality in Jude 4. It’s mentioned also in 2 Peter 2:18 and 19, it speaks of these false teachers, “They mouth empty boastful words and by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom while they themselves are actually slaves of depravity. For man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.” So ironically, they are talking about freedom, but they are living like the ultimate slaves. But that’s one strategy, saying that there are no fences, no boundaries, nothing, anything goes, whatever makes you happy. The other sinful strategy is legalism or asceticism. In that case, there are boundaries set much too narrowly. You’re to be inside this little area here, and anything beyond it is wickedness and sin. And so these folks draw in excluding territory that God has said is good and right, such as marriage, for example, or eating, or other things.

Things that, it says in 1 Timothy, God made so that He would be thanked, that He would be honored, but they draw in the boundaries so narrowly and say, “You must live here and anything beyond it is wickedness and sin.” Some of the ascetic monks, these are some of my most favorite people to study in church history like Simeon Stylites, the one who sat on a pillar six to eight feet high, to get away from everything. By the time his monk career ended, his pillar was 80 feet high, and he would stand for 20 days at a time and pray and sit for 20 days at a time and pray, and they’d give him a modicum of food and he would eat it, wishing probably didn’t have to. That was a life of asceticism. The problem with that kind of asceticism is, number one, it doesn’t work. Colossians 2 tells me it doesn’t work. These kinds of extreme regulations, “‘Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch…’ These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.” They don’t change your heart, you’re every bit as lustful as you were before, and God is looking at the heart, isn’t he?  So they don’t work.

Secondly, in that they do work, they produce some negative effects, harsh thoughts toward God, judgmental attitudes toward others, brothers and sisters, who don’t make the same commitments that you do. And so, if you decide to give up something, spectator sports, television, any kind of entertainment, computer games, vacations, I mean the list goes on and on. I actually made a list of the different ways that Americans meet their pleasure needs, and it really was amazing, cruises… I mean, we could go on and on. But if you say, “I’m going to give up all of these things.” You are strongly tempted to feel negatively and arrogantly toward those who don’t give them up. Well, those are different strategies. Here the focus is on Godless hedonism. Now the word, “Hedonism,” comes from the Greek word, “Pleasure,” Hedonis is a Greek work for pleasure. And the definition would be, whatever most increases pleasure is right, regardless of who it is it hurts.

Now Greece was the center of certain schools of philosophy concerning this, Epicurus for example, taught this, but I don’t really think that Paul was looking into schools of philosophy with the Pagans that surrounded his Philippian Christians, he just said that’s the way that Pagans naturally live. Whether they have it organized into a system of philosophy or not, this is what they live for, their god is their stomach.

Now, he says four things about them here, he assesses them, he says, first of all, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ. Look at that in verse 18, “many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.” The center of Christ’s life was the cross, that’s why he came to die on the cross, he came to die, to suffer and die. And he calls on all of his followers to pick up their cross daily and follow him. If you don’t carry your cross, you’re not worthy of him. Jesus said it plainly. And so the lifestyle of a Christian is the lifestyle of the cross. It’s what Martin Luther called the theology of the cross, of self-denial for something better, something higher, a greater joy. And Jesus did it all for joy. He wasn’t that kind of Godless ascetic, and there are, by the way, ascetics in every religion, it’s not just Christianity. There are some in Buddhism and Hinduism that do the same thing with the earthly drives. But he said, these people they live as enemies of the cross of Christ, they hate the preaching of the cross, and they certainly hate the lifestyle of the cross, they’re enemies of the cross.

And secondly, he says, “Their end is destruction.” I think end is better than the NIV’s pick choice of destiny here. Destiny’s a little strong. It just tell us… Which is the end, the end of that road, you living like that, the end of that road is hell. Now that there’s no question. Maybe destiny too strong but hell is not too strong. From which we get the word apollyon in the book of revelation.The end is hell. The end of that lifestyle is hell. It says in Matthew 7:13, same word, “Enter through the narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it.” It’s the same word. Some people say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but here it seems to say the road to hell is paved with a bunch of good times. One party after another, one good time after another.

Thirdly, he says, “They glory in their shame.” Interesting expression here, I think what it means is that that which they will in the end truly be ashamed of they presently boast in and are excited about. They boast about whoever can drink the most alcohol or have the most pleasure in a variety of ways and there is a bragging and an enticing there. Puritan, Thomas Manton put it this way. He said, “First we practice sin then we defend it and then we boast of it.” And that’s what I think he is meaning here when he says their glory is in their shame.

And then fourthly, he says, “Their mind is on earthly matters.” They think about this stuff all the time. You can’t get their minds off of the earthly stuff up into the heavenly realms. They can’t think about it, it’s not the way they’re wired. And so they are always thinking about the next exciting ball game or a sensuous night, or a great meal, or something earthy. That’s what they live for. And it says in Romans 8:6, “The mind set on the flesh is death but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.” And so we see the condemnation of godless hedonists.

II. The Compassion of Paul

But let’s not miss something in what Paul does here. I went right over it but I don’t want you to miss it. In verse 18, he says, “For as I have often told you before, and now say again even with tears…” It’s easy for Christians to miss this, isn’t it? What is Paul’s attitude toward the people who are living like this? Are you shattered over it? I mean, he is crying for them. There is an incredible compassion here for these folks. And this is actually a regular part of Paul’s ministry. He did the same thing in Romans 9 when he’s talking about Christ-less Jews, those who have not trusted in Christ.

Now, he was a Jew that had trusted in Christ but there were many who had rejected Christ. And what he says in Romans 9 is that, “I speak the truth in Christ. I’m not lying. My conscious confirms it in the Holy Spirit. I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers those of my own race, the people of Israel.” He is weeping for the Jews who don’t know Christ. Weeping for them. Just like he is weeping here for the pagans who don’t know Christ, whose God is their stomach. He’s crying for them.

He does the same thing toward Christians, 2 Corinthians 2:4, he had to write a very harsh letter dealing with sin, 1 Corinthians 5 covers it and he wants them to know it was not easy for him to write that disciplinary letter. And so he says in 2 Corinthians 2:4, “I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears not to grieve you, but to show you of the depth of my love for you.”

And he just sums up his whole ministry to the elders of the Ephesian church in Acts 20 verse 31 he says, “So be on your guard. Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” The tears of Paul here, his great compassion. And it was really the tears of Christ because he is patterning it after Christ who stood over Jerusalem and wept over the city. “Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings but you would not.”

The compassion of Christ for the lost is coming out in his apostle. The tears that he weeps here. Ultimately, though, I think his compassion is towards Christians, isn’t it? Because he says, “As I have often told you before and now I say again even as tears, many are living in this godless pagan way.” Don’t do it Philippians, please. Don’t live that kind of life. So his compassion is really ultimately for the Philippians here. Although he does grieve for the pagans.

III. The Conduct of Citizens of Heaven

And by way of contrast, he says that’s the way they are living, I’m warning you against it but I want to show you the way your life should be. Your citizenship he says is in heaven. You’re at a different level. Verse 20 and 21, “Our citizenship is in heaven and we eagerly await a savior from there, the lord Jesus Christ who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”

There is a strong contrast being set up here between the godless pagans, the hedonists that are living for their stomach, and you Christians, the Philippian Christians. There is a difference. Their God is their stomach, your God is the eternal creator of the universe. They are enemies of the cross of Christ. You embrace the cross as your salvation, first through the atoning sacrifice of Christ so that his blood shed on the cross removes forever the wrath and curse of God. Condemnation is gone through the cross of Christ and you know it. So you embrace it as your salvation but secondly, in terms of lifestyle, it becomes the way you live your life. You take up your cross everyday and follow. And it frees you up from the enslavement to passions.

And so they’re the enemies of the cross of Christ. For you, the cross is salvation. Their end is destruction, but your end is heaven. Your citizenship’s in heaven. There’s a contrast here. And he says, “Their mind is chained to earth, but your mind is free to fly to the heavens, because everything in heaven and earth is given to you through faith in Christ. All of it is yours, kept in the heavens for you.” It’s incredible contrast here. Well, why does he speak like this? Well, he says, “We’re citizens of heaven.” And I think the Philippians would’ve embraced or understood this, because they were very proud. The Philippian people were proud of being citizens of Rome. They were a citizen colony of Rome. And what that meant was that any natural born Philippian was a citizen of Rome.

Paul himself was a citizen of Rome, and he used that a couple of times to get out of being beaten or some other things. He thought like a citizen of Rome, and I think he wanted to be a good citizen of Rome, but his higher allegiance was to heaven. Our citizenship’s in heaven. I’m speaking mostly I think to Americans. I think since 9/11, there’s been an upsurge of patriotism and I understand that. And I think we should be patriotic to a point, but there’s boundaries to that, isn’t there? If you ever want to study a good case study on patriotism with no boundaries, study Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Deutschland, Deutschland uber alles, Germany over everything.

Well, I would say Jesus Christ over everything. Our citizenship’s in heaven. So we must be good American citizens like the apostle Paul was a good Roman citizen. And the early Christians prayed for the emperor and were submissive to authority and carried out their duties and responsibilities as much as their conscience allowed them to, and so must we. But our citizenship’s in heaven. So Paul’s point here is ethical. If our citizenship’s in heaven, how should we live? Well, not in lust and drunkenness. Not in orgies and wickedness.

Romans 13 says, “Let us behave decently as in the daytime, not in orgies or drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” And this is going on as we eagerly await a savior from heaven, Jesus Christ. So while you’re waiting, what should you do? Is Jesus going to come back today? Oh, I hope so. Wouldn’t that be great? Wouldn’t it be great to have the prayer meeting tonight cancelled because Jesus came back? I’d be happy about that. He has that authority, he can cancel any prayer meeting he wants to. It’s his church. So if he cancels the prayer meeting because he comes back, I’ll be delighted. And we’ll talk to him more directly, won’t we? And that’ll be wonderful.

But if he doesn’t come back, how should we wait? Well, I’m going to give you again those internal and external journeys. Internally, puts into death. Externally, let’s speed up the day of God. Both of these come together beautifully in 2 Peter 3. Listen to this: “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?” You ought to behave like citizens of heaven. “What kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live Holy and Godly lives, as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.”

How do you speed the coming of the day of God? Well, get busy in evangelism, make disciples of all nations. And how do you speed its coming? Put sin to death in your own life. That’s what he says. Behave like a citizen of heaven, that’s what you are.

IV. The Consummation of Salvation

And then fourth, we see beautifully the consummation of salvation. He says, “We eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” Oh, I’m waiting for that. I’m excited about that. I’ll tell you more in a minute. I had no voice when I woke up this morning. That I can speak at all is a grace of God.

But God is good. But here, he mentions is the second coming of Christ. We are eagerly awaiting Christ to come back. It’s like Scott said in the baptism today twice. Are you waiting for Christ to come back? Our sinless savior to come back that we might look up in the heavens and see him there. And that he would at last get what he truly deserves, unfeigned worship. Christ will descend with the clouds, he will come back with the armies of heaven. And he will come back as our final savior from this vile world and all of its temptations and its attacks.

Secondly, everything is going to be brought under his control, that’s what it says. All of this disarray that we see in the newspapers and we read about all over the world, we’re talking about tyrants that use their political power to strip the rights and freedoms of people and beat on their bodies and even take their lives. We’re talking about the scourge of poverty. We’re talking about the temptations to the animal drives and lust that we’ve talked about earlier. This stuff seems like it’s out of control. And we’re talking about within the bodies even of Christians diseases and decay and problems. And it seems like it’s out of control, but it isn’t.

Jesus Christ has the kingly right to this whole world. It’s already been given to him. All the authority in heaven and earth has been given to him. It’s his already. But there’s a process going on here, isn’t there? And so the father said to the son, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” And that’s going on. But when he comes back, he’s going to finish that job and everything is going to be brought, the Greek here is very strong, under his arranging control. He will bring all the disarray and make it arranged beautifully as our king, and that includes your bodies.

And so we end up where we began, with your body. Yes, those drives, those desires, the fleshly side of you, which is so much of a battleground now, isn’t it? And it makes it so hard to walk a single day in godliness. Paul says in Romans 7 that when he wants to do good, evil is right there with him. Well, it’s in the body. He calls it “the body of death,” he calls it “the body of sin,” he calls it “the mortal body.” Here he calls it the “the lowly body, the humiliated body.” This is the only vehicle we have for service for Christ in this world. We must have it, but we must keep it under subjection. And what a struggle it is every day.

But the same power that enables Jesus to bring the whole world under his control is going to be at work in your body. Isn’t that exciting? And He’s going to give you a new one. You know why? Because the old one cannot make it to heaven. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. You must be transformed from the corruptible to the incorruptible. You must be made like Christ. And this, at last, is the finish line of your salvation. And when you’ve crossed it, you will have been completely saved.

And until this happens, until Philippians 3:21 is fulfilled in you and in all of God’s chosen people, salvation’s not finished yet. We’re not fully saved. This is what was stated in Romans 8:29-30, “For those whom God foreknew, He predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined he also called, and those he called he also justified, and those he justified he also…” What? “Glorified.” He’s going to make you just like Jesus. You’re going to be conformed to his image. In your body as well as in your soul. And that’s going to be glorious.

V. Applications

Now, what is our application for this? Well, really kind of infinite. But I’m only going to hold you for another hour. I know your stomachs are grumbling. I know you’re hungry. But I kind of gotcha this morning, don’t I? Because who’s going to admit, I’m too hungry to listen to this sermon. I got to go. But I’m not cruel and I’m not unkind. Just briefly.

A balanced life. Can I urge you to look at the legal, lawful pleasures, which God wants you to enjoy? Look at them like a child of God. In that internal journey, I want to urge on you a balanced life of lawful pleasures and self-control. Rejecting, on the one hand, self-righteous legalism and on the other hand, license and freedom to eat and drink and do whatever you want. Obviously now, hear me, Christians must reject all sinful pleasures out of hand. They are rejected and wicked and if you’re struggling with anything you know is sin, you must put it to death.

“I want to urge on you a balanced life of lawful pleasures and self-control. Rejecting, on the one hand, self-righteous legalism and on the other hand, license and freedom to eat and drink and do whatever you want.”

Like John Owen said, “Be killing sin or sin will be killing you.” But I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about the beauties of nature, the taste of food that you enjoy, marital life together in a family, enjoyment of hobbies, other things. How shall we use those things? And what I’m asking you to do is to live a life of self-control in these areas.

1 Corinthians 7, Paul’s talking about marriage, and he says, “What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short.” This is 7:29-31. “From now on, those who have wives should live as if they had none.” Very interesting statement. “Those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; and those who use the things of this world, as if not engrossed in them.” That’s what I’m talking about. “For this world and its present form is passing away.”

So, don’t be engrossed in anything in this world. 1 Corinthians 6:12 says, “Everything is lawful for me, but not everything’s beneficial. Everything’s lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.” How can you tell if you’re mastered by something? Can I urge you to give it up sometime? Seriously, for a little while. Fast from it. Whether food, or marital relations, or spectator sports, or hobbies, or other things. And find out how important it is in your life. You may actually be surprised how important it has become in your life. It could be that some mastery crept in unawares, and you lost self-control in that area.

Can I urge you to come back to a disciplined life? And it could be even that some lawful thing has so consistently led you into sin in the past that you must give it up forever. And you have to decide what those are. Jesus said, “If your right eye caused you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than your whole body to go into hell. And if your right hand caused you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.” But if God leads you to do that, don’t boast about it, please. We’re not even supposed to know when you’re fasting. You’re supposed to put oil in your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you’re fasting, but only to your Father who’s in heaven. Don’t go walking around saying, “Look what I’ve given up.” Because then you’ve gone that short route from discipline to boastfulness, and you’re right into a different sin. Self-control in these things.

Secondly, can I urge on the external journey? A compassionate heart. I was convicted by this. I don’t weep enough for the lost. I’m just confessing that to you. I don’t care enough. I don’t care as much as Jesus did. And I don’t care as much as Paul did. And I want that to change. And the only way that I can do it is to get closer to Christ, to love more what He loves, and to hate more what he hates, and to feel more what He feels when He looks out over Jerusalem. I want to weep more. And I want you to too because it’s healthy, isn’t it? To weep for the Jews that don’t know Christ, like Paul did. And to weep for the pagans that are living for their stomachs.

And thirdly, John Piper in Desiring God espouses a different kind of hedonism, the kind where the ultimate pleasure is God himself. Because you know in the end that’s what you’re going to get in heaven. Isn’t that marvelous? It’s incredible, isn’t it? The feast of the wedding banquet is going to be God. And I don’t want it to be anything else. I want God, I want him to satisfy me. Might I suggest that you not turn your back on pleasure, but have pleasure be ultimately fulfilled in Christ. Let Christ be your pleasure.

These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.

Introduction: Two Great Drives in the Universe

Mentor: John Piper, Desiring God

Two overpowering drives in the universe

1)  ​The personal drive to be happy

Around us we see constantly the effects of a generation that is pleasure-crazed, that has no other answer to the internal drive for happiness than a life of a steady stream of sensual pleasures… a generation that tolerates the workweek and lives for the weekend… a generation that has more hobbies, more pastimes, more vacation packages, more recreational vehicles, more computer games, more leisure books and magazines, more available styles of music, more home entertainment systems, more exotic restaurants, more health spas, more cruises, more movies/videos/DVD’s…

IN SHORT… more strategies for happiness through pleasure than any generation before us… MORE BY FAR!!!

Some of the strategies for happiness involve pleasures God has given, which are fine if used in the proper way… others involve illicit pleasures which God has condemned, and which are plastered all over our nightly news and daily newspapers

BUT the whole system of pleasure through the senses offers one of the greatest threats to our salvation in Christ that we will face in our pilgrimage to the Celestial City

2)  ​The drive God has to be glorified by His creation
The second great drive in the universe is the very reason the universe was created to begin with: God’s burning desire to be exalted and glorified in and by His creation

Illus. Jonathan Edwards, “Dissertation Concerning the End for Which God Created the World.”… asks the question, “Why did God create the universe?” The answer is clearly given: God created all things for the praise of His glory

We have already seen this in Philippians 1

Philippians 1:11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ– to the glory and praise of God.

Two overpowering drives in the universe

1)    The personal drive to be happy 2) The drive God has to be glorified by His creation How does the overwhelming drive of every human being to be happy relate to God’s overpowering drive to be glorified and praised in and by His creation? The resolution of these two things into one is the core of what John Piper calls “Christian Hedonism”

The basic thesis is that we are happiest when we are living for the praise and glory of God… we are happiest in God, and in God alone

“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”

Background: The devil is constantly attacking the church of Christ… attacking our well-being, especially with false doctrine

Two of the greatest false doctrines appear in one chapter, Philippians 3: legalism at the beginning of the chapter, license at the end

Legalism: a system of self-righteousness based on self-denial and lawkeeping

License: living for earthly fleshly appetites, somehow believing God’s grace will cover all sins

Paul, the pastor, concerned about the spiritual condition of the Philippians, is fighting on BOTH these fronts To that end, he has been describing his way of looking at the Christian life:

He rejects Phariseeism, legalism in the first half of the chapter… describing that his best attainments in self- discipline were WORTHLESS, He considered them rubbish in comparison with Christ’s perfect righteousness

He has described His own PRESSING after Christ:

vs. 12-14 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Having done that, he presents his lifestyle and attitude as an example to follow in general:

vs. 15-16 All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

In verses 17-21, he presents his lifestyle and attitude as an example to follow concerning LICENSE, learned from godless hedonists:

Four Parts of this section:

I.     The Condemnation of Godless Hedonists

II.     The Compassion of Paul

III.     The Conduct of Citizens of Heaven

IV.     The Consummation of Salvation

I.     The Condemnation of Godless Hedonists

A.    The Beginning and End of Philippians 3: Equal and Opposite Errors

1.    Self-righteous legalism

Philippians 3:2  Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh.

2.    Godless hedonism

vs. 18-19 many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.

B.    Dual Warning from Paul: WATCH OUT

1.    Both roads lead to hell by outwardly different but inwardly similar routes

2.    Both are overwhelmingly self-focused

3.    True salvation is overwhelming God-focused and Christ-focused

C.    “Whose god is their stomach???”

1.    Stomach certainly represents food

2.    BUT I believe it goes far deeper than food… it represents any fleshly drive, appetite, lust, desire… anything tied to the body and to an exclusively earthly lifestyle

3.    If your stomach is your god, it means

·       The center and focus of your existence is meeting your earthly drives and desires

·       Your free time is spent on those drives

·        The organizing theme of your life is those drives: it’s why you get up in the morning; why you go to school, why you go to work, what you dream about, what you want the most

·        Ultimately, in the end, you worship your body: you live only for what it demands, you serve its whims, you trust in it to make you happy and fulfilled

4.    ULTIMATE BIBLICAL EXAMPLE: Esau

Hebrews 12:16 See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.

Genesis 25:29-34 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.) 31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.” 32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” 33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.

D.    Overpowering Drives of the Body… Opposite Human Strategies

1.    Remarkable gift of the body: God’s highest physical creation

Psalm 139:14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Amazing, intricate balance of bodily systems: of the nervous system, of the circulatory system, of the endocrine system, of the skeletal and muscular system, of the respiratory and digestive and reproductive systems… all of them balanced and harmonized just as God intended

2.  Drives of the body

a.    drive for food and drink that is pleasing to the palate and nourishing to the body; epicurean delights of the highest order… culinary delicacies: Godiva chocolates, filet mignon steak of aged Angus beef, French cuisine with exquisite sauces

b.    drive for sights that are pleasing to the eye… sparkly and enticing: rare works of art, shiny jewelry of the highest quality; a house overlooking a spectacular vista of a mountain valley, facing eastward for the sunrise and westward for the sunset

c.    drive for sexual pleasure… some consider the strongest of all the fleshly drives; a drive many of you are familiar with and the details of which it is not seemly to describe… as though we needed to know again how strong that drive is

d.    drive for sensory comfort:
a soft, think blanket on a cold winter night a plush thirsty bath towel

the highest quality clothing, pleasing to the touch

skillfully designed furniture… beds that are specially designed for the needs of your aching back

e.    drive for pleasing sounds: music of whatever your favorite is, on the highest quality sound system

The drives are strong… sometimes it seems overpowering

Illus. It is like a massive magnetic pull… Samarium cobalt magnet, 5000 gauss, approximately 500 times more powerful than a refrigerator magnet

If we were made of wood or plastic, the magnetic attraction would not pull on us at all

If we had no internal sin nature, we would not be attracted to the fleshly system that surrounds us

2.    Sinful Strategy #1: LICENSE… FREEDOM… “If it feels good, do it!!”

Many of these folks within the church

“Libertines”… Geneva during Calvin’s era… “If I want to dance and get drunk and have fun with my life, what difference can it make to the law?”

Some even made it into a theology:

Jude 1:4 They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

2 Peter 2:18-19 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity– for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.

They taught that God’s grace in Christ meant you could sin as much as you want… God would forgive it all More of them outside the church, in the non-Christian world:

Isaiah 22:13 Instead, there is gaiety and gladness, Killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, Eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.”

3.    Sinful Strategy #2: LEGALISM… ASCETICISM… “If it feels good, tastes good, looks good, makes you happy, it’s of the devil. Save yourself by denying yourself every pleasure.”

Desert-dwelling ascetics: monks who escaped the temptations of the world by living in the desert

Illus. Symeon the Stylite, 5th century after Christ: tried to escape crowds of admirers by living on top of a pillar in the desert… the first pillar he made was six to eight feet high… his last pillar was over eighty!!! Abstained from food for forty days, praying while standing for twenty and while sitting for twenty

Pharisees like Saul of Tarsus and the others… boasting about their grim determination to obey ALL the Law of Moses, fasting twice a week and giving a tenth of their spices

The essence of legalism’s failure: too high an opinion of one’s own righteousness AND one’s own ability to kill the lust of the flesh

The greatest problem is… asceticism DOESN’T WORK… it doesn’t change the heart drive itself; therefore, the people who try this approach end up self-deceived concerning their salvation

Colossians 2:20-23 Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

The second problem with asceticism is that it leads to harsh thoughts of God and judgmental attitudes toward others

1)    Harsh thoughts toward God:

Illus. Martin Luther

He fasted till his cheeks caved in; in freezing winter he slept without a blanket; he would confess his sins for six hours at a stretch. Years later he recalled, “I kept the rule so strictly that I may say that if ever a monk got to heaven by his sheer monkery, it was I. If I had kept on any longer, I should have killed myself with vigils, prayers, reading and other work.” No amount of penance, no soothing advice from his superiors could overcome Luther’s conviction that he was a miserable, doomed sinner. Although his confessor counseled him to simply love God, Luther one day burst out, “I do NOT love God! I HATE Him.”

2)    Judgmental attitudes toward others

One of the great dangers of a life of unusual self-discipline… careful self-control over all appetites is that it can lead by a short route to arrogant feelings of superiority toward others and a judgmental spirit toward people who don’t live up to the same standard

Luke 18:11-12 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men– robbers, evildoers, adulterers– or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

Example: If someone feels God leading them to give up some aspect of modern life… perhaps all videos, TV, and any form of entertainment, they may make extraordinary strides in Christian growth… but they are also strongly tempted to look down on others who do not also make the same sacrifices

E.    Here: Godless Hedonism

1.    Hedonism defined

(hedoné, pleasure). “Whatever most increases pleasure is right”

2.    Hedonism and Greek paganism

a.    Greece was the center of philosophical schools centered on hedonism… like the school of Epicurus

b.    BUT whether the Greeks who surrounded the Philippian Christians followed this or that school of formal hedonism, the drive for a life of earthly sensual pleasures is strong at all times

c.    pagan temple worship involved meat sacrificed to idols, temple prostitution, and drunkenness

F.    Paul’s Four-fold Assessment of Godless Hedonism

18 For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.

1.    Enemies of the cross of Christ

The center of Christ’s life is the cross: out of love for the glory of God and for sinful humanity, Christ was willing to suffer hell on the cross to bring about eternal joy for the saved

All who would follow Him must live the same kind of life:

Luke 9:23-25 Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?

“Deny yourself”???? This is the very OPPOSITE of the lifestyle of Esau… of feeding whatever fleshly urge comes along next

These people HATED the message of the cross, and refused to live it

2.    “End” (not “destiny” in NIV) is destruction… that road leads to hell

Greek word is related to “Apollyon” the destroyer

Matthew 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.

Some say “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Paul says here “The road to hell is paved with good times”… one party after another, one feast after another, one bowing at the shrine of the stomach god after another… godless hedonism ends in eternal destruction

3.    Glory in shame

Thomas Manton: “First we practice sin, then we defend it, then we boast of it.”

a.    what they boast about the most is what they will in the end be most ashamed of

b.    who can drink the most wine, who can be the most immoral, who can live the most hedonistic lifestyle

4.    Mind on earthly matters

a.    the real issue is what is happening in their MIND

John Piper: “The human heart is a desire factory. It produces desires as fire produces heat. As surely as the sparks fly upward, the heart pumps out desire after desire for a happier future. The condition of the heart is to be appraised by the kinds of desires that hold sway. Or to put it another way, the state of the heart is shown by the things that satisfy its desires. If it is satisfied with mean and ugly things, it is a mean and ugly heart. If it is satisfied with God, it is a godly heart. As Henry Scougal put it, ‘The worth and excellency of a soul is to be measured by the object of its desire.’” [Piper, Future Grace, p. 277-278]

b.    godless hedonists are constantly thinking about their next earthly pleasure

An exiting ballgame A sensuous night

A great meal

Something earthly

Romans 8:6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace

These are the people that Paul is warning the Philippians against BUT let’s not miss an aspect of Paul’s character here

II.     The Compassion of Paul

vs. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.

A.    These People Are Enemies of the Cross

B.    BUT Paul WEEPS for them

C.    Paul’s Compassion is Overwhelming… and seen two places

1.    Here, compassion for the godless hedonist pagans

2.    Elsewhere for the Christless Jews, his own people

Romans 9:1-4 I speak the truth in Christ– I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit– 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, 4 the people of Israel.

3.    And compassion for sinners in Corinth

2 Corinthians 2:4 For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.

4.    Regular pattern of ministry

Acts 20:31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

D.    Imitation of Christ

Luke 19:41-42 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace– but now it is hidden from your eyes.

E.    Imitation of Other Godly Men

David: Psalm 119:136 Streams of tears flow from my eyes, for your law is not obeyed.

Lot: 2 Peter 2:8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)

Moses: (Deut. 9:18-19) Lay on the ground fasting and praying for forty days for his sinful people

Ezra: (Ezra 9:3,4) tore his hair out and grieved all day over the sin of his people
A Strong mark of godliness is a deep grief over sin wherever it is found… weeping for the condition of others

F.    Ultimate Compassion on Christians

Here, Paul has compassion not only for the lost pagans, but for the Philippian Christians who might get swept into their habits… that is why he warns them so clearly here

vs. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.

NEVER FORGET Paul’s tenderhearted tears over the plight of the lost, over the empty life of the godless hedonists of his day, who wasted their lives in a headlong search for earthly pleasures

III.     The Conduct of Citizens of Heaven

vs. 20-21 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

A.    Strong Contrast with Christians

1.    Their god is their stomach: OUR God is the Eternal, Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth

2.    They are enemies of the cross of Christ: we embrace and kiss the cross of Christ as SALVATION, first from the wrath of God by atonement, then from a godless lifestyle by example and power

3.    Their end is destruction, BUT our end is eternal heavenly glory with Christ

4.    Their mind is chained to earth, BUT our mind is free to soar to eternity

B.    Citizens of Heaven

1.    Paul chooses a strong word here, a technical word relating to the connection with a city- state

2.    The Philippians were inordinately proud of their status as full citizens of Rome

3.    Paul picks up on that concept and elevates it even higher

“You Philippians are citizens of an even higher and greater city than Rome: the eternal City of God!! You Philippians can boast of citizenship in a far greater empire than the mighty Roman empire, for the empire of Christ the King is eternal and will swallow all human empires.”

4.    Strong limitation on human patriotism and earthly allegiance

Illus. “Power of pride” bumper stickers with American flag on it appeared shortly after 9-11. Christians should mediate long and hard on Philippians 3:20

“Our citizenship is in heaven”

5.    “Heaven” is the place where God dwells, and our future dwelling with God in the heavenlies is depicted most accurately in the book of Revelation:

Revelation 4:1-2 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.

Revelation 7:9-10 After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

Revelation 7:13-15 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes– who are they, and where did they come from?” 14 I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.

God’s temple is in heaven (Revelation 11:19, 14:17), and thus are the saved from every tribe and language and people and nation going to be rescued OUT of earthly tribulation and INTO heavenly dwellings

NOW we must admit some mystery here, for Revelation depicts the New Jerusalem coming down OUT OF heaven as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband; and depicts also a new heaven and new earth the home of righteousness

The heavenly city, the new Jerusalem, is measured mysteriously as being a cube 1500 miles on a side and 1500 miles HIGH!!! This is a mystery… somehow a mixing of earthly and heavenly dwellings in which God Himself with dwell with His people eternally

This is OUR citizenship…

Paul’s point here is ethical… if our citizenship is in heaven, how shall we then live?

C.    How Shall Citizens of Heaven Live?

1.    Not in lust and wickedness, drunkenness and orgies

Romans 13:13-14 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

2.    BUT in holiness and expectant hope of our future perfection

WE EAGERLY AWAIT A SAVIOR FROM HEAVEN!!!!

Eager expectation is the mindset of the Christian WAITING FOR CHRIST, more than anything

1  Thessalonians 1:9-10 They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead– Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

WAITING ALSO FOR THE END OF OUR SALVATION

Galatians 5:5 But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.

Waiting that results in a holy life and an evangelistic life Internal journey of holiness, external journey of evangelism:

2  Peter 3:11-14 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly livesas you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. 14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.

IV.     The Consummation of Salvation

vs. 20-21 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

A.    The Second Coming of Christ

1.    Christ will descend with the clouds

2.    Christ will come back with the armies of heaven

3.    Christ will come back as our final Savior from this vile world and its temptations and attacks

B.    Everything Brought Under Control

1.    At present we do not see everything subject to Christ

a.    politicians speak of a sacred right to murder babies and for same gender people to get married

b.    dictators use their positions to strip their people of possessions, freedom, and hope

c.    massive cities around the world are cesspools of immorality and deserts of poverty, where orphans roam the streets looking for crusts of bread

d.    terrorist cells plan and carry out their latest crimes against humanity

2.    The world seems to be out of control… but it is just a matter of time

3.    All authority in heaven and on earth is Christ’s BY RIGHT, by His ROYAL POSITION, and BY CONQUEST

4.    And God said “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemy a footstool under your feet.”

The entire world will be made subject to Christ… Greek word in verse 21 is to arrange in good order everything under His authority

21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control
BY THAT SAME POWER, He will answer at last the cry of our hearts:

Romans 7:24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

C.    Glorified Bodies… the Perfection of Salvation

21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control will transform our lowly bodies so they will be like His glorious body

1.    The same power that allows Christ to subject Satan and all the rebellious world kingdoms

2.    WILL ALSO transform our lowly bodies (literally “lowly, humble, contemptible”… certainly NOT FIT FOR HEAVEN

3.    “Transform” = strong Greek word… made completely like Christ, transformed externally as we have already been transformed internally

4.    Our bodies will be perfectly conformed to Christ’s resurrection body

BY THAT SAME POWER, He will answer at last the cry of our hearts:

Romans 7:24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

This “body of death” is the seat of lusts and passions and desires… the stomach acts like a god for us too, with all of its demands. The fleshly drives are a constant battleground for the holy man and woman… when at last will the vicious struggle be over??

The “body of sin” will at last be done away with The “body of death” will be transformed

The “mortal body” or “corruptible body” will be made glorious, a resurrection body JUST LIKE CHRISTS!! Why?

Our salvation is not complete until we are totally conformed to Christ

Romans 8:29-30 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

THAT INCLUDES OUR WRETCHED BODIES

Why? Because nothing less than this can be fit for eternity:

1 Corinthians 15:50-53 I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed– 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.

This body will be perfectly patterned after Christ’s resurrection body

vs. 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control will transform our lowly bodies so they will be like His glorious body

1 Corinthians 15:42-49 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

Resurrection bodies, gloriously perfect just like Christ’s… that is our destiny in Christ Our salvation will not be complete until this verse is fulfilled

No more lusts of the flesh or passionate drives which lead us astray from God No more corruption, decay, or disease

No more death, mourning, crying, pain

Glory, bright shining perfect radiant glory, patterned after our Savior, Jesus Christ, that is our future!!!

V.     Applications

1.    A Balanced Life

Internal Journey: A Balanced Life of Lawful Pleasures and Self-control: Rejecting both self- righteous legalism and godless hedonism

OBVIOUSLY Christians must reject all immoral pleasures… lust, drunkenness, covetousness, worldly ambition… these are rejected out of hand… if they are in your heart now, plead with God for forgiveness and beg Him to set you free

BUT what about acceptable pleasures… the beauties of nature, the pleasures of food, the joy of marital love, the enjoyment of hobbies and other earthly pleasures that are NOT IMMORAL

Reject extreme asceticism: “do not taste, do not handle, do not touch”… Christ did not live this kind of life, and neither did Paul

BUT: Reject undisciplined enslavement to them on the other hand

How to use the things of the world without being enslaved by them:

1 Corinthians 7:29-31 What I mean, brothers, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they had none; 30 those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; 31 those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

The word in 1 Corinthians 7:31 says we should use the things of the world as if we did not use them to their fullest… use them lightly and move on

1 Corinthians 6:12 “Everything is permissible for me”– but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me”– but I will not be mastered by anything.

Ask always, “Am I mastered by this thing?” Am I mastered by food? Am I mastered by fun and pleasure? Am I mastered by spectator sports? Am I mastered by hobbies?

Surest test: regular and periodic fasting from food or from entertainment or from hobbies or from any other moral pleasure, to be sure it has not become too important in your life

HOWEVER: If something is regularly dragging you into sin, cut it out of your life

Matthew 5:30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

BUT if God leads you to some kind of extreme self-discipline, don’t let it show to others… keep it between yourself and God; and for God’s glory, DON’T judge other people who DON’T feel led to make a similar sacrifice

2.    A Compassionate Heart

External Journey: Deep compassion for the lost Paul wept for the lost

Christ wept for the lost

William Carey wept for the lost as he held his homely little leather globe and wept aloud with strong cries to his students: “These are all pagans! Pagans!!”

Hudson Taylor wept for the lost when he threw himself down before God and said “Give me China or I’ll die.”

If you don’t have this kind of compassion, then labor on your own heart… get closer to Christ, love more and more of what He loves; hate the sin He hates; ask Him to give you His heart for the lost… meditate on the destruction that awaits all godless pleasure-seekers of America and the world

Pray and labor for them until you do begin to weep regularly

3.    A Consuming Godward Hope

Desiring God: “Christian Hedonism”… feeding the mind on God and not on the fleshly drives Finding pleasure in God, His Kingdom, His glory

The basic thesis is that we are happiest when we are living for the praise and glory of God… we are happiest in God, and in God alone

“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”