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Now, here's today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. Whenever you travel outside of this country, you're going to need one of these. This is a passport. And the passport designates that you are a citizen. Of whatever country it is that you were born in, you have citizenship there.
And you can't just walk from one border into another border and say, I've decided to visit. They're going to ask you, some officials going to say, Please show me your passport. Or they might not use the word please. They might just say, passport. And you have to show it to them.
It designates where you're from, and then there's certain stipulations about where you're going.
Now when you arrive at an airport in a foreign country. You're going to see two lines: one that will say citizens and one that says non-citizens. And that's because if you are a citizen of a country, you are afforded certain privileges. that non-citizens don't have. In any country.
If you were to look at the first Page of the American passport. It says, The Secretary of State of the United States of America hereby requests all whom it concerns to permit the citizen or national of the United States named herein to To pass without delay or hindrance. And in case of need, to give all lawful aid. and protection.
Now, let's say that you don't belong to this country, but you want to become a citizen of the United States. You can do that. You can do that by becoming what is called a naturalized American citizen. And there's a process that you would go through in order to become naturalized. And once you go through the process, you then swear an oath in public.
And part of the oath reads like this. I hereby declare On oath. that I absolutely and entirely renounce An abjur All allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen. That I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.
That I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation. Or purpose of evasion, so help me God.
So, though you may be born elsewhere, not of your own choice, of course, it was a choice of your parents. You can become a citizen of this country by choice and by oath. But By becoming a citizen of this country, you also become a foreigner of every other country. Of course, there are exceptions. There's a thing called dual citizenship, which interestingly wasn't even possible until recently.
It was the late 1960s, where you could hold dual citizenship. But that's more of a recent development. Effectively, becoming a citizen of one country means you are a foreigner of other countries. Likewise, when you become citizens of heaven, you become foreigners on this earth. This earth is is just like a transit lounge in an airport.
You're passing through. This isn't where you're going to spend the bulk of your time. You have an eternal home in heaven. With that in mind, let's go to our text, Philippians chapter 3, beginning in verse 17, what I call the citizenship clause of the book of Philippians. 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 even 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 Saviour, 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.
Now, in calling believers citizens of heaven, That would be meaningful to the Philippians. Here's why. Philippi, though it was about seven to eight hundred miles away from Rome, if you were born in Philippi, since Philippi was a colony of Rome, any citizen of Philippi was a citizen of Rome.
So Those in Philippi did not speak the language of Macedonia, they spoke the language of Rome. They wore not Macedonian clothes, but Roman clothes. They were loyal to the Roman government. And when they tucked their children in bed at night, They didn't tell them stories of local heroes, but They told their children stories of all the glories of Rome. We too.
Because we have citizenship in heaven, we are temporarily living in this colony called the earth. That's the metaphor, that's the idea behind Paul's usage of the term.
However, There was also another group. They were foreigners of heaven trying to pass themselves off as citizens. They're fakes. They're fake citizen.
Now in the passport You know, most people don't read these things, but there's fine print in every passport. And it says on one of the pages: it is unlawful for any person other than the original lawful recipient. to use this passport. And then there's a little clause that says alteration or mutilation. Of the passport.
And it reads like this: this passport. Must not be altered or mutilated in any way. Alteration could make the passport invalid. and if wilful, may subject you to prosecution.
Now, why would they have to put a warning like that at a passport? Because One passport per person. I can't just say, hey, you want to travel? Take this passport. Go ahead.
Why spend the money on yours? Just borrow mine. You couldn't do that. And some people would be tempted to take the passport, cut out my picture, and put their picture in it, and change the name. Because there are people who are false citizens.
Now, Paul has that in mind also when he writes this paragraph. If you remember, there were religious groups, and Paul makes mention of them along the way so far. that have infiltrated the church. In chapter one, Paul said, Some, speaking of among them, some among you, preach Christ. Out of envy and strife, from selfish ambition, not sincerely.
As we move on in the letter, he gets stronger. By chapter three, And he says, Beware of dogs. Beware of the evil workers, beware of the mutilation.
Now he's calling them out. He's speaking specifically of those legalistic Judaizers who were saying you need to go through the process of circumcision and keeping the law of Moses in order to be saved.
Now it gets even stronger. And he calls them the enemies of the cross of Christ.
So we're going to be considering both of these groups, citizens and non-citizens, as we work our way through the passage. But let's go back to the passage and allow me to give you some distinguishing characteristics. Of citizens of the kingdom of heaven. First off, citizens walk with partners. Citizens walk with partners.
Verse 17: Brethren, join in following my example, Paul writes. And note those who so walk. as you have us for a pattern. It almost goes without saying that Paul the Apostle was like. a model citizen.
of heaven. And he says. Follow my example.
Now, this is not arrogance. Paul is not. putting himself on a pedestal above them. We know that because remember in verse 12, he says, not that I have already attained. or we're already perfected.
So he's not placing himself on a pedestal above them. He's placing himself on a platform next to them. And he is saying, just as I am pursuing Christ with all my being. I invite you to join me in that pursuit. This is the Philippians three-way.
Of saying what he writes in 1 Corinthians twice: follow me as I follow the Lord, or imitate me as I imitate Christ.
Something else. Notice that he moves beyond his own example and he draws a bigger circle. He says, note those, that's plural. Whoso walk, and you have us, again, plural. As a pattern.
So in Paul's mind, he is saying. You can use me. Timothy, Epaphroditus, your own elders and deacons, leaders of the church that he mentions in chapter one, all of us as partners. And as patterns are of how to walk. Here's the principle.
All of us are foreigners making our journey. on a pilgrimage towards heaven. We have a passport because we trust in Jesus, but we need more than a passport. We need partners. We need patterns.
We need people who have walked the walk. before us or will walk beside us and show us in real time how it's done. Because The journey gets hard sometimes. It gets lonely sometimes on this road, and it's nice to have people around us who will encourage us and show us how to walk. This is Connect with Skip Heitzig.
When you give to this ministry, you're helping reach thousands of people every day with God's life-changing truth. encouraging them to know him and grow in his word. And to thank you for your support this month, we'll send you The Making of a Biblical Leader: A Practical Guide to Leading Others by Robert L. Furrow. This practical guide, featuring chapters by Skip and Lenya Heitzig, offers biblical wisdom to help you lead yourself and others with Christ-like integrity.
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Now, here's more from Pastor Skip. You know, psychologists. have said that they can tell a lot about an individual's personality by the way they walk. You know how some people just sort of walk. shuffling their feet.
It says a lot about that person. You know, just sort of meandering and they get distracted very easily. Other people have a cadence and a gait, they want to go to a certain place. It reveals about their personalities. One time.
DL Moody was having a conversation with a friend. And a man walked by. Moody had never met him, but the friend he was talking to knew him. And as the man walked by, D. L.
Moody said to his friend, He must have been in the army. The friend said, Well, he was in the army. How did you know? Moody said, I could tell by the way he walked. You know, soldiers walk a certain way, don't they?
Cowboys walk a certain way, at least they do in the movies. You know, John Wayne had it sort of that. Swagger, didn't he? Could tell it was him when he was coming. Christians are to have a certain walk.
And of course, I'm using that metaphorically: walk as a way of living, a manner, a lifestyle, living their life. And so as you walk, note those who so walk. You have them as partners, you have them as a pattern. Mark Twain once humorously wrote: Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example. May I just say we need more of that annoyance?
We need the annoyance of good examples around us. Those who have been involved in 12-step programs or those who teach them. For alcoholic recovery or addiction recovery, will say that an addict cannot recover. Unless they have a sponsor. And they say it's the sponsor that serves as a motivator, an encourager, a person with whom they can be accountable.
And I would say that we can't really mature well, we can't grow well, unless we have a sponsor, a mentor. It's called discipleship in the New Testament. We're never to be alone or isolated. We need to walk with others, and citizens will walk with partners. I think we could learn.
From the elephants. I read an article about an elephant herd in Africa. And to thin out the herd, it was growing, it was becoming a little too populous.
So, to thin out the herd, authorities decided to kill off some of the older males. In that herd, and relocate the females and the young bull elephants to another area.
Now in the area they moved them to was a herd of white rhinos. And they noticed that once the elephants were in that region, The white rhinos were being killed off, not by poachers, but by elephants. Young bull elephants. who were very aggressive and I guess wanted to prove their elephanthood. Started killing these white rhinos.
In fact, the authorities noted it was as if one of the elephants got a gang together. and went after tour buses.
So they had another problem on their hands.
Now to address that problem, They decided let's kill off some of the young bull elephants. That didn't really fix things.
So, what they decided to do is to release a few older males from another area. into the troubled neighborhood. And they noticed it fixed the problem. It wasn't long before those young bull elephants got back into line and they discovered that these young elephants don't know how to act from day to day without the example. of older elephants.
So, it's not just in the animal kingdom where that is needed, it's in God's kingdom. In the Christian life, we need to see That life lived in others. Citizens will walk. with a set of partners in a pattern. Here's the second characteristic.
Citizens watch. For pretenders, verse 18. He says, for many walk, the reason we need people who walk well is because many walk of whom I have told you often and now tell you even weeping that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. whose end is destruction. whose God is their belly or their appetites.
Whose glory is in their shame, and who set their mind on earthly things. You see, not everybody within the borders of a country Our citizens. You can have people in the general population, they look like everybody else. But they're not loyal citizens. They're actually hostile to the national interests.
And every country knows these people can be a problem. Paul knows it's a problem even within the church. And he goes, You know, I've told you about this before, but now I'm writing this to you, and as I'm writing, I'm weeping. Isn't that a weird word to read in the book of Philippians? We've noted already that this is a letter that 19 times uses the word joy or rejoice.
It's the epistle of joy. Nothing could take Paul's joy away. But here Paul says I'm weeping. He's not weeping for himself. He's weeping for the church because he knows the outcome could be catastrophic.
And so he warns them. These are fake citizens. That is, they know the heavenly language, but they're not conformed to heavenly laws. Remember, Jesus said, beware of false prophets. They come to you in.
Sheep's clothing. but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. And, predicted Jesus, this will be a problem even to the end of the age. In Matthew 24, when he speaks of the end of the age, he says, Many will come in my name and will deceive many. And as you thumb through the New Testament, you find out this is an ongoing issue.
You get to the book of Acts, you get to chapter 8. There was a guy named Simon Magus, who was a fake believer. among the general population of believers in Samaria. Go a few more pages. Acts 13, there was Elamas the sorcerer.
Then you get to the 20th chapter of Acts when Paul is about to leave the Ephesian elders. And before he leaves, he says, I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in, not sparing this flock. In fact, men from among your own selves, your own rank, will come in speaking perverse words to draw the disciples. to themselves. He knew it would become an issue.
As we go on through the New Testament, Paul calls out two people in the church at Ephesus. This is in the book of 1 Timothy named Hymenaeus and Alexander. whom Paul says whom I have delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. Then we get to the writings of Peter, 1 Peter, 2 Peter. Second Peter has three chapters.
Two of those three chapters are totally devoted. To the issue of false teachers, false prophets within the church. He says, There are false teachers among you. who bring in destructive Heresies. Why so many warnings?
And I didn't cover them all. There are many more in the New Testament. Why so many? Because it brings up a truth. It's scattered among every church.
are pretenders. They may be sitting next to you right now.
Now, I don't say that so you'll give them the evil eye. Must be you. I knew that about you. But that you're aware of it nonetheless. Many people can sing the same songs, pray the same prayers, engage in the same activities, and at the same time be pseudo-citizens.
Pseudo-citizens. They speak the language of the court. But Christ is not their king. There's no allegiance to him. And You shouldn't be surprised by this.
Now, some of us go, I can't believe that would happen in a church. Really? You shouldn't be surprised because Jesus said that the good seed is sown. In the field, and it brings Up a crop, but the enemy comes along and sows tares among the wheat. And then Jesus even said, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.
So apparently, according to Jesus and Peter and Paul and John and everybody who would contribute to the New Testament. Understands that wherever there is something true, there is going to be something counterfeit. That'll be next to it. Like the Puritan William Gernal, who said, These are people who love God in their mouth. but the world is in their hearts.
Notice how Paul writes about them. He says they are the enemies of the cross. of Christ. Wouldn't you like to know exactly who he's talking about?
Now I say, wouldn't you like to know? I can't be sure exactly what group Paul is referring to because. In Philippi, like just about everywhere else in the New Testament early church, there were two groups that were on the opposite end of the spectrum. Both were problematic. One we've already noted were the Judaizers.
These were People who said you have to keep Jewish law, go through Jewish ritual in order to be saved, keep circumcision. They were the legalists. On the other hand, there were the Gnostics. And the Gnostics were not legalistic, they were antinomian, that is, having no law at all. And the Gnostics believed that all matter was evil.
Only the spirit is good. And that you can be saved by aligning your spirit. In surrender to God, but you do anything you want with your body because your body is irredeemable.
So, in effect, the Gnostics said: as long as in your heart you believe in God and follow Christ, you can live any way you want with your body. That was problematic.
So we don't know if he's referring to the legalistic group or the antinomian group, the Judaizers or the Gnostics. Either way, Both groups being problematic would fit the description enemies of the cross of Christ. They are a menace.
Now, I just want you to look at this for a moment from a little different angle. Those who may be among us and are not true citizens of the kingdom of God, churchgoers, yes.
Well meaning, yes. Sincere, yes. They'll go along, they'll come to church, they'll sing the songs, but they're not. Part of the kingdom, yet, instead of saying, get away, how about saying come closer? How about saying, don't just believe with your mouth?
How about really believe in your heart? How about having a true conversion? How about coming to Christ and truly believing Him?
So instead of seeing them as a menace, We could start to see them as a mission. I'm going to focus my attention and you know what? Dr. Elton Trueblood noted this: Our main mission field today, as far as America is concerned, is within. Church membership itself.
Even the Billy Graham Association, Billy Graham said a while back: Our crusades find the greatest challenge and the greatest response. from among church members. That's why he would always invite different churches to his crusades because he knew a lot of people who came weren't really saved people. but he wanted them to hear the gospel.
So the question you need to ask yourself Is are you an imitation citizen? Or are you a true citizen? Has your passport, so to speak, been stamped by the blood of Jesus Christ? Have you applied that personally, authentically, really to your own life? Or are you hiding behind the mask of some religious group or system?
Yeah. We're so glad you joined us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before you go, remember that as our thanks for your gift of support today, we'll send you The Making of a Biblical Leader, a Practical Guide to Leading Others, by Robert L. Furrow, featuring chapters by Skip and Lenya Heidzig. This resource will encourage you to grow in faith and lead others with wisdom and grace.
When you give, you help keep this Bible teaching ministry on the air, connecting more people with the truth of God's Word and the hope found in Jesus. GIP today at connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your resource when you do. See you next time. Make a connection! Make a connection.
I shouldn't have the foot of the crossing. Castle burning. Insomnia. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of connection communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
