We view heaven as our primary preoccupation.
This is what motivates us. We're concerned to see the Savior. We're concerned to hear well done from the Savior. We're concerned to be rewarded by the Savior. We're concerned for eternal glory. Welcome to Grace to You with John MacArthur.
I'm your host, Phil Johnson. It's the bedrock truth of Christianity. Salvation is by God's grace alone. You can't earn your salvation.
But once you're saved, what part, if any, do you play in your own spiritual growth and development? John MacArthur examines that today as he continues his series, Reaching for the Prize. But before the lesson, John, as the Grace to You staff returns today from a holiday break, coming back to the office, many of them will do nothing but dig through a lot of correspondence.
And that's a really good and amazing thing. Take a moment to tell listeners what's always waiting for us on the first workday of a new year. Well, because that time of year is just a downtime for everybody.
Everything kind of grinds through a hall. We have a couple of weeks of vacation, and everybody comes back. And because December is also the largest mail month for the ministry in the year by far, they do come back to that mountain of mail. Inevitably, there's this sort of exaggerated Christmas attitude that, you know, on Christmas when we were kids, we go to the tree and excited to open our gifts. Well, the Grace to You staff is like a bunch of kids going to the Christmas tree early in January to open all the gifts of the mail, because they're so blessed by what we receive. And not just the monetary giving, but the continual testimony, just letter after letter after letter after letter, where people are expressing gratitude for the ministry. So we thank our Grace to You listeners for everything that they do at the year end. And for whatever you might have done as a listener today, thank you for investing in this ministry. Just know this, that we return to embrace with joy all the provision the Lord has brought through all of you.
We also know it means sacrifice. I received a phone call from a guy who said, could you call me back? I want to give a gift to your ministry. And I called him back, and he said, you know, we don't have much.
And he was a humble guy, and he said, we don't have much. We're just common folks, but I just wanted to ask you, if we were going to send a gift, where would you like us to send it? It's not much, but it represents our love and sacrifice. What a beautiful testimony that was, and I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to speak personally to this gentleman, because I know that that is repeated thousands of times, people giving sacrificially, and so it was a real delight in my own heart.
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Yes, friend, thank you. Your generosity and your partnership will help us take verse-by-verse Bible teaching to God's people all over the world in 2025. So, let's get to today's lesson.
Here is John MacArthur with his study called Reaching for the Prize. Philippians chapter 3, verses 17 through 21. Let me just remind you of that text by rereading it for you. Philippians 3, 17. Brethren, join in following my example and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their mind on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory by the exertion of the power that He has, even to subject all things to Himself. Going back from verse 17, which we just read, all the way back to verse 14, we focus on the key to this passage. Paul says, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. We're talking about pursuing the prize, pursuing the goal, living your Christian life in such a way that it demonstrates that your single great passion is to be like Jesus Christ. That's the prize.
That's the goal. Paul so lived. If you go back into verse 8, he said, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. In verse 10, he said, I want to know Him. I want to know the power of His resurrection.
I want to know the fellowship of His sufferings. I want to be conformed to His death. In verse 11, he said, I want to attain to the resurrection from the dead. And that brought him in verse 13 to say, there's only one thing I do. Verse 14, I press on toward the goal. You see, Paul lived a life pursuing Christlikeness. That's what we've been noting in this passage. Christlikeness must be the pursuit of every believer.
It is the single basic duty of every Christian. We live, however, in a sort of non-committal time period. We live in what Sorokin called a sensate culture. That is a civilization that is much more concerned about pleasant emotions than it is about productive efforts. We are much more into comfort than we are into accomplishment. And I believe that this sensate culture has produced a lazy, indolent group of people. We live in a society that is fast-moving toward nothing, absolutely nothing, without goals other than personal comfort, lack of responsibility, lack of accountability, lack of accountability, seeking comfort rather than accomplishment. And I think it spills over into the church.
And I think the church today suffers from apathy, a lack of commitment. We have forgotten that we are in a holy war and that we as soldiers of Jesus Christ must wear the armor. In Ephesians 6.14, Paul said, We are to put on the belt of truth. The first thing a soldier put on when he went to battle, he had a tunic, just a piece of material. He wouldn't go into hand-to-hand combat with that material flying around. It would get in his way.
It could be the cause of his own death. And so the first thing he would do would be put a sash or a belt around his foot, would be put a sash or a belt around his waist, tied as tight as he could, take the corners of his tunic, pull it up through the belt so that it wouldn't encumber his leg as he moved swiftly across the terrain in hand-to-hand combat and tied it all down tight so it wouldn't get in his way. And the belt of truth really could be the belt of truthfulness in the text. And it has to do, I think, with the seriousness of one's attitude about battle. It's not really a piece of armor in the sense that it can't protect you directly.
It's not a weapon. But it does indicate that you're serious about the battle and you're tying up the loose ends of your life. Before you take the machaira, which is that dagger of the spirit, before you take the shield and the breastplate, you've got to be sure you're serious about the battle. And that belt of truth or truthfulness or sincerity or commitment means you are devoted to the struggle and you are devoted to the victory. You are devoted to pursuing the goal. We've said much about this and I don't want to belabor the point in general, but we are called to follow the goal of being like Jesus Christ. That is our goal and that is the prize that God will give us in the end. Now, Paul suggests for us in verse 17, as he concludes this section, some necessary elements in this pursuit.
Element number one is to follow after examples. Verse 17, he says, Brethren, join in following my example and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. In other words, if you're going to be pursuing Christ's likeness, you've got to have somebody to follow, somebody who shows you how to pursue that. And that's the role of spiritual discipleship, spiritual leadership.
Follow after examples. The second thing, and we noted this last time, was to flee from enemies. Verses 18 and 19 introduce us to the enemies of the cross of Christ. They must be avoided at all costs because their end is destruction, their God is their appetite, their glory is in their shame, and they set their minds on earthly things. They cannot lead you in the right path.
Please note what I told you last time. They are enemies of the cross, but that's not how they identify themselves. They invariably identify themselves as friends of the cross.
Therein lies the subtlety of their deception. Now we note for you in verse 18, there are many of them. He says, �Many walk this way.� That He often warned them about such and was so passionate about it that even as He pens this, He is presently weeping. This is of major concern to Paul as to other New Testament writers.
Avoid, flee from the enemies of the cross. I suggested to you last time that He could have in mind with regard to the Philippians two different groups. One could be the Judaizers of whom He wrote in verses 2 and 3. The Judaizers who said, �Yes, we believe in Christ. Yes, we believe He died.
Yes, we believe He rose. But we also believe that salvation must be attained, partly Christ, partly you. It's Christ plus circumcision, Christ plus keeping the Mosaic law.� So they added works to the cross and thus they were the enemies of the cross. That is hostility toward the cross. The claim of revelation, that is the claim of the Word of God, is that the work of Christ on the cross is sufficient.
There is no need for human works to be added to it. So the Jews, the Judaizing Jews, were enemies of the cross because while affirming the cross, they were adding works for salvation. And they could be described in verse 19.
Each of those elements of description could describe the Judaizers. Their end would be destruction because if they add works to salvation, or add works to grace I should say, then there is no grace and salvation does not occur. Their God being their appetite could refer to their preoccupation with dietary laws, or it could refer to the fact that they were doing whatever their own lust dictated to them to do to accomplish things for their own glory. Their glory in that same verse is in the thing they should be ashamed of, that is the effort to add works to grace. They set their mind on earthly things like feasts and festivals and circumcisions and ceremonies and so forth. So it could refer to the Judaizers. But secondly, and perhaps more likely, he has in mind here the licentious antinomian Gentiles, those who would say, yes we believe in Christ, but we want to live any way we want. Perhaps they were dualistic in their viewpoint, believing that it didn't matter what the flesh did anyway, it was enough to just believe in Christ that took care of the spiritual end of things and it didn't matter how you lived after that. These antinomian, that is anti-law kinds of people, these libertines also were the enemies of the cross. Even though they may have said we believe in Christ and we believe in His death and resurrection, the Judaizers added works to salvation at the wrong point and the Gentile antinomians subtracted works from salvation at the right point. The Jews said you have to have works going in and the Gentiles said you don't need works coming out. One dealt with justification, the other was sanctification, but both were enemies of the cross. To say that the cross does not change one's life and call for a life of obedience is as wrong as to say that there must be works for salvation.
So on the one hand, the Jews in Judaizing adding works were enemies of the cross, the Gentiles in eliminating any works were enemies of the cross. And again, the Holy Spirit points us to the false professors who are not really saved. A constant theme in New Testament Scripture.
Now finally, we come to the last two verses. The final element necessary for pursuing the prize, let's call it focusing on expectations. Following examples, fleeing from enemies and focusing on expectations. Here we come to the underlying motivation. What is it that makes us pursue the prize? It is the expectation. It is the hope of the coming of Jesus Christ who will change us to be like Him. We have to keep that focus clear. Now let me stop at this point and say you can read the contents of verses 20 and 21.
It's obvious. Paul says, our citizenship is in heaven and we are eagerly waiting for the return of the Lord Jesus because when He comes, He'll transform us to be like Him and He's got the power to do it. That's what he says. In other words, we have a heavenly perspective. We view heaven as our primary preoccupation.
This is what motivates us. We're concerned to see the Savior. We're concerned to hear well done from the Savior. We're concerned to be rewarded by the Savior. We're concerned for eternal glory.
That's their preoccupation. You see, the Apostle Paul knew very little of creature comforts. He knew very little of pleasant emotions. He was uncomfortable most of the time, beaten, shipwrecked, stoned, left for dead, on and on and on, always sorrowful, always weeping over one thing or another, sorrowful, always in some kind of pain or another, disappointment, difficulties, deprivation.
But he had no concern for pleasant emotions and pleasant feelings. He was committed to a productive life moving toward a goal. And that goal was all tied to heaven. So his preoccupation was heavenly. That's why he could say, far better to depart and be with Christ.
Much better for him. And this is the focus of life that is required if we're going to pursue Christ-likeness. Christ is a heavenly being. Christ is of heaven, from heaven, in heaven. Heaven is His place. He is ours. Heaven is our place. If preoccupied with Him, we're preoccupied with heaven. It matters little to us what happens here. It matters a lot to us what happens there. He is there.
That's our place. So in verse 20, he says, our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Back in verse 14, he called it the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. The time is coming when the Lord calls us up to meet Him and we'll be forever with Christ. That's our focus. Paul says, I long for that.
I long for that. And the only reason he stuck around here was to do his work, to finish his ministry. And when he came to the end in 2 Timothy, he said, I've finished my course. I've kept the faith. And now he says, I'm ready to get out of here.
I'm ready to get the crown of life, which the Lord the righteous judge should give to me, and not to me only, but to all them that love is appearing. He wanted out when the work was done because that was a better place. That was His place. He wanted to be with His Savior. Can we understand what a remote thought that is from the contemporary church? Frankly, that is not even a popular thought.
In fact, not at all a popular thought. You see, you have in the church today this far-reaching emphasis on prosperity, health, wealth, gospel, solve all your problems, fix up your life, have a happy marriage, have a happy home, be successful. We are living in not only a man-centered theology, but we're living in an earth-bound kind of perspective where the church is content to milk this world for all it's worth.
This has become our place, even though it shouldn't be. Most of our lives in this world today are so bound to the earth that frankly we have absolutely no desire to leave and go to heaven. And there are some cultures in the world where if I went into a church of assembled believers and said, how many of you would be willing today to leave and go to heaven, the majority of them would say yes, where I think in this situation here if I said, how many of you honestly and genuinely would be ready to pack up and leave and go to heaven today, most of us might say no.
Some of us might want to go because we don't like our circumstances. Others of us might like to go because we want to inflict pain on somebody who would miss us. But from the standpoint of just the sheer joy of going, I mean, you go to a Christian funeral, the typical Christian funeral, and we don't talk about heaven. We don't think about heaven and we have very little concern about heaven until somebody dies. And then we go to the funeral and we comfort the remaining family that this person is in heaven and secretly we're thrilled it isn't us. And we live under the very, very deceiving lie that death is the enemy of the Christian. When the fact of the matter is, for those who have a heavenly perspective, death becomes a friend. So in a humanistic evolutionary world where the view of life is that death is the enemy that ends it all, the church somehow sort of buys into that. And in a materialistic world where it's get all you can get now, the church buys into that and so we are really laying up treasure on earth where moth and rust corrupts, where thieves break through and steal. But we're into this world. We also are not into delayed gratification. And when the Lord says, well, in the future I'll give you a reward, we don't understand, we can't even relate to that.
Who in our world experiences delayed gratification? Whatever you want, you get now. You don't have to have money, you can just use a credit card.
You don't have to build it, you can buy it. You don't have to go very far to get it. It's all over the place, whatever it is. Everything is instant gratification. So you talk about heavenly reward, it doesn't interest anybody because we're into instantaneous gratification. So in modern evangelical circles, heaven is pretty much ignored. Very little Christian preaching on heaven, very little emphasis on heavenly things, very little concern about the life to come, but mammoth kind of preoccupation with this world, this life, how I feel, how I get along, how I succeed, how I prosper, on and on and on and on.
So the death becomes the enemy because we assume that this is the best when it isn't. But if you're going to pursue Christ's likeness, and maybe this is the reason so few do, if you're going to pursue Christ's likeness with the passion with which Paul did it, you're going to have to get your focus out of this world and into the next. So let's see if we can't help you do that. Look at verse 20. Our citizenship is in heaven.
That's where we have to start, beloved. We are not citizens of this world. The word citizenship, by the way, only used here, this particular word, means a colony of foreigners.
It is used in a secular source to speak about a capital city that kept the names of its citizens on a register. In other words, we're registered citizens of another place. We are registered citizens of heaven. Our names are there. Our Father is there. Our Savior is there. Our home is there. Our fellow saints are there. Our inheritance is there. That's our place.
That's our place. And Paul says we have to have that perspective. Now the Philippians could understand that because the Philippians were a colony of Roman citizens far from Rome. So they would understand what it was to have citizenship somewhere other than where you're living.
They were citizens of Rome, but they were in the colony of Philippi. We are citizens of heaven living here in the earth. Unfortunately, like Israel of old, you remember, taken into Babylonian captivity when it came time to go back to the Promised Land. Many of them had decided that they wanted to stay where they were.
They became so entrenched. And I see that same kind of analogy as in the church. When the Lord says, now it's time to go to heaven, we fight it as if it was the worst imaginable thing because this world has become everything to us. But our citizenship is in heaven.
You must understand that. Our citizenship is in heaven. Now He doesn't stop at that point. He says, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So what He's telling us is the Lord is in heaven and He's coming back. You remember in John 14 He said, I'm going away and if I go, I will come again to receive you unto Myself that where I am there you may be also. John 14, 2 and 3, I am the way, the truth and the life passage.
So Jesus said, I'm going away in My Father's house or many rooms. I'm going to prepare Him for you. I'm going to come back. I'm going to get you.
I'm going to take you to be with Me. So we're waiting for Christ. We're not waiting for an event. We're waiting for a person.
We're waiting for a person. But you know, I think there are other people who don't want to go to heaven because they like their sin so much they know there won't be any of it there. That's a strange thought, but I'm sure it's true. The pleasures of sin are the pleasures of sin. Some people say, I don't want to go to heaven.
It wouldn't be any fun there. Some Christians I think are even reluctant to give up some of their vices. But heaven is our home and we wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. In Romans 8 it says that we groan waiting for the glorious adoption of the children of God. We groan waiting for the redemption of the body, Romans 8, 18 to 23, that whole text. We are groaning, longing for what is to come.
Pulses, the sufferings of this world are not worthy to be compared with the glory which is to come. So I'm not looking for creature comfort. I'm not looking for pleasant emotions. I'm not looking for a pain-free life.
This stuff doesn't matter to me. I'm looking for what's there, what's coming. I'm doing what Peter said, 2 Peter 3, looking for and hasting unto the day of God which causes us to be found blameless and in peace, looking for the Savior. John says if we have this hope in us, we purify ourselves.
You're to be looking for Christ. That is the greatest point of spiritual motivation on the one hand. It is the greatest point of spiritual accountability on the other hand. And it is the greatest point of spiritual security.
So what do you do with that? Well, if I know Jesus is coming, that's motivation. That's motivation. I want to be ready when He comes. I want to be faithful when He comes. I want to show Him that I've served Him. Paul says that when He comes, 1 Corinthians chapter 3, He's going to look at your work. He's going to be tested by fire and you're going to receive an eternal reward.
It's going to be determined whether your works are wood, hay, stubble or gold, silver, precious stones. That's motivation. I want to receive the reward. I want to receive the prize. I want to receive the well-done, good and faithful servant. I want to enter the joy of the Lord. That's motivation to me. I am motivated at that point because I love Christ and because I know that there are eternal benedictions tied to my faithfulness here. So I am motivated by the fact that He's coming, that I'll have to face Him, that there is a judgment seat of Christ where I will have to face the things that I have done and be rewarded as He would reward me.
You're listening to Grace to You with John MacArthur. Pastor, author, chancellor of the Master's University and Seminary in the Los Angeles area, John's first study of 2025 is titled Reaching for the Prize. And friend, with the new year in mind, let me remind you about all the free resources on our website that can help you build a consistent habit of studying God's Word in 2025. You'll find daily devotionals, the reading plan for the MacArthur Daily Bible and much more.
Get in touch with us today. Our web address is gty.org and there you can also catch episodes of this broadcast you may have missed. You can download any of John's more than 3,600 sermons free of charge in audio and transcript format. To start off your new year with a steady dose of God's Word, visit us at gty.org. And friend, let me just reiterate what Grace to You is all about. We're committed to unleashing God's truth one verse at a time on this radio broadcast, at our website, in our books, in television, anything we do. You know, we've all just come through another year of uncertainty and no doubt 2025 will be filled with fresh and unforeseen challenges. Just know that we will be here doing everything we can to connect you with the only unchanging source of comfort, encouragement and direction.
I'm talking of course about biblical truth. Now for John MacArthur and our staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for making this broadcast part of your day. Tune in again tomorrow as John shows you how to keep your focus on Christ, even in the midst of the darkest trials. It's another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time on Grace to You.
