How do we respond to the enemies of Christ? Pastor Jon Swerens preaches.

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Sermon transcript

This morning’s sermon text is from the book of Philippians, chapter 3, verses 17 through 21.

Their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

The word of our God. Praise be to God.

Friends, I want to start out by pointing you to the love of God for this congregation in one way already.

About a month ago, I chose this passage out of Philippians because I wanted to find some way to explain the madness of the 21st century. Little did I know that events would overtake my plans. But I marvel at the providence of God.

I do not have the skills or the time to pull together an entirely new sermon in two days. But instead, God gave us the word fit for this day. And today, Psalm 125 was today’s call to worship.

I’m going to cite that in this sermon. Why? Because last week was Psalm 124. We didn’t plan that. The songs are all about Christ’s kingship because they were next on the schedule. And the Heidelberg Catechism. We’ve been working through the Ten Commandments. We had to set on do not murder this Sunday. The Lord has been very gracious to us. You’ve gotten the sermon in a half, and I haven’t even started yet. It is glorious. It is glorious.

The Context of Suffering

It is fair, by the way, to call the assassination of our brother Charlie Kirk a martyrdom. Absolutely fair. Some would say, no, he was a political operative, and this shouldn’t count. But that’s bizarre.

Everything he said, increasingly as he grew older in the faith, everything he said was based more and more on his belief in Jesus Christ and his kingly rule over all things. Now, of course, as I mentioned in the prayer, his is not the only one. He was not the only one to lose his life for the sake of Christ, not even this week.

We know, if you don’t know this, by this time this year, 7,000 Christians have lost their lives in Nigeria. One country. 7,000 brothers and sisters and children. That’s not to diminish Charlie Kirk, but it’s to put this in context, because it still shakes us.

And it shakes us for a couple of reasons. For one thing, this evil that feels distant. Like, that’s over there. Well, now it feels like, well, it’s here now, isn’t it? It’s here now. And also, it feels like he was martyred for being a guy like us. I heard someone describe him as normal, boomer, conservative. There was nothing remarkable about what he believed. It was just he believed it and talked about it.

But it does feel like, with this, it feels like the country turned a corner that we didn’t know was there. Worse than that, or maybe better, it unveiled thousands of our fellow Americans as lovers of violence, giddy at the sight of his blood, celebrating his death and hoping for more to come. But remember this, that’s an unveiling. That rot was there all along. God flipped on the switch for us. So that’s a mercy. It is good to know they are out there.

So what is this madness? Why did I want to pick up this topic in the first place? How do we understand it and how do we avoid going mad ourselves? Because that’s always a temptation, to fight fire with fire. But this verse in Philippians is one great way to understand it.

The Apostle Paul and Philippi

So let’s set the scene here. As you know, all of the scriptures, all of them, are written at a particular time, in a particular place, by a particular man, to a particular audience, all carried along by the Holy Spirit. And that’s good, because then we can look at that and say, what is the context for all of this? What has he gone through? What are these people?

So this letter was written by the Apostle Paul. He wrote many of the letters of the New Testament. Paul, one of the best men who ever lived. He was a Jew who would be called the Apostle to the Gentiles. He’s our guy. He’s our guy. And Philippi was a city in Greece, long since abandoned, but was made up almost exclusively of Gentiles. There was no synagogue there even. It was a Gentile city in Greece. So that’s where the church is. Philippi, full of Gentiles.

Which explains why the Apostle Paul doesn’t directly quote the Old Testament much to them. They don’t know it. He has to start at a different place. And where was the Apostle at this time? He was in jail, as typical. Most likely he was in Rome, awaiting the trial before Caesar, that he refers to in the book of Acts. We see he appeals to Caesar, and then he’s pretty much captive the rest of his life.

So he was probably in Rome because he was there, because he requested, in a sense, sanctuary, because the Jews in Jerusalem wanted to kill him. In fact, the book of Acts ends with Paul living under house arrest in Rome, as he wrote this letter. So he was there, most likely.

And here’s the thing. He was in prison. What did Rome think he was in prison for? He was there because he was a rabble rouser. Every place Paul goes, there’s a riot. Thus, correlation, causation, he’s causing riots.

But that’s not what Paul thought. He said in Philippians 1, in fact, you can turn to Philippians if you’re not there already. We’re going to stay mostly in Philippians for the rest of the sermon.

In Philippians 1, he tells us why he was there. If you start in Philippians 1, starting with verse 12, and listen to his attitude about his imprisonment.

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me, being in prison, all the other things that we’ll talk about in a moment, all that’s happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. So that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.

His imprisonment was for Christ. Did Paul have an idea when he said, “I appeal to Caesar,” years before this, that he would be instrumental in showing Christ to a bunch of Roman imperial guards? No. But that was God’s purpose for it. And Paul thought he understood the purpose of his suffering. So that’s who he was. He was there witnessing to Christ in Rome.

And how was the Church of Philippi doing? Actually, pretty well. We know Paul was not one to hold back — Church of Corinth — when he needed it. Philippi had been his partner, had been his friend all along. They would send him support when no one else would. Paul very much appreciated that. They were doing well spiritually, but he still wanted to give them warnings. These warnings would not be from within at this moment, but from without. From those who might come in.

Enemies of the Cross of Christ

And who were these enemies? What kind of enemies did they have? They were enemies of the cross of Christ. Let’s go back and let’s look at Philippians 3 now. This section of Philippians 3, which I’ve already read, starting with verse 17. Because we’re going to see what kind of enemies did the Church of Philippi have? What can we learn about them? And what can we learn about what we should do?

So he said again, “Brothers, join in imitating me,” that’s verse 17. “And keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.”

Let me stop and say this. Paul was a humble guy, but also he realized he’s an apostle. He has to be an example for people to follow. Now he knew he was only a man, but he said, “Follow me as I imitate Christ.” But not only me, “Keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.” So Paul, even though he knew he was a prime example, he said, “Look at these other guys too. Other people are walking the walk. Follow them.”

“For many,” verse 18, “For many of whom I have often told you, and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.”

Enemies of the cross of Christ. How can one become an enemy of the cross? What are you clinging to if you see the cross and go, “Oh no, that’s trouble. That’s against me.” When we know Jesus came for sinners. He came to rescue them. Why would you be an enemy?

And Paul tells us in the next verse.

Their end is destruction. Their God is their belly. And they glory in their shame with minds set on earthly things.

There’s a lot in that verse. Let’s unpack it.

The Purpose of Destruction

“Their end is destruction.” Obviously, when you hear that, you know right away. Well, we’re talking about that. They’re going to be destroyed at the end. They’re going to die. They are hell bound and they’re going there. Absolutely. Amen. Glory to God. But there’s more to it than that. The word end. It’s not just the end. It’s also the purpose. Their aim. Their goal.

Just like we see in the Westminster Shorter Catechism. What’s the first question? “What is the chief end of man?” The chief purpose. And these enemies of the cross of Christ, their purpose is destruction. Their purpose is to destroy and to be destroyed. That is how they live.

Now, why would someone live in that way? Why would you live saying, “I must destroy. I must be destroyed.” Why would you live your life in that fashion?

And Paul says this next, which might sound curious to our ears. “Their God is their belly.” Now, in our English, that might sound almost cute. Oh, their belly. But it’s not. It’s very serious. Because your belly. What is your belly? Of course, just a Greek word. It’s just belly or abdomen. There’s nothing to glean from the language itself. But how is it used? Well, similar to how you say about your heart. “Oh, I’m heartbroken.” You don’t call 911. That’s something different. But it’s located here. That feeling, that affections are here. Your belly has been understood as the seat of desire. The seat of want. Of appetite. Of hunger.

Now, friends, we’re Christians. That means we know that the body was created good. In fact, very good. Corrupted by sin, certainly. But we can’t set aside the fact that we were created good. And this desire, our belly, is a part of us. And it’s not always bad. If you’re hungry, you eat. If you never get hungry, you could starve. The desires push you to fulfill them. But they must be under the lordship of Christ like everything else. Our God must not be our base desires. Must not be.

Logic vs. Desire

So how does this happen? How does your desires become such a big part of you? Well, first of all, how did you become a Christian? What happened there? And we can see how that faith works. Well, scripture is clear.

“Faith comes from hearing.”

Your faith, think about this. Your faith, well, with the Holy Spirit working on your heart, of course. But from the outside looking in, your faith is the word of God, physical words on a page, words going through the physical air to your physical ears, to your physical brain, and they affect you mind to will to heart. It’s all there. It’s mind to heart and will. But it starts with you understanding the words. Christianity is a logical religion. It makes sense. It is a sensical thing. We can read it and understand it.

But what happens if the cross, if you’re an enemy of the cross of Christ? Well, then you’re an enemy of this. And then suddenly you become an enemy of logic itself. What do they do? If your God is your belly, you start with your desire. You start there. And then you start tacking on logical inconsistencies on top of that so you have a way to talk about it to other people. But what you never deny is the desire. I can think of examples.

I’ve had debates with people who love abortion, who are abortion advocates. And they’ll start down some argument and say, well, it’s a clump of cells. And then I can come back and say, well, science says this. Logically, you’re inconsistent, blah, blah, blah. And they’ll sit there, listen to it, and act like you didn’t say anything and just go to argument B. Say, also, parasites in your body. It’s like, whoa, whoa, what happened to this over here?

It’s because logic is not how they come up with their beliefs. It’s all their desires. They want abortion. They’re going to get it. They don’t care how they get it. They’ll put up 12 different contradictory arguments. It doesn’t matter because their belly says, “I must, I must have this.” And you can’t argue someone out of that. Well, how does it say? You can’t argue someone out of something that they didn’t argue themselves into. It doesn’t work. It doesn’t work.

So if you ever had those kind of conversations with somebody, you go, it’s just like BBs. It’s just bouncing off their brains. Why? Their God’s their belly. Their God is their belly. But then here’s the thing. If that’s true, that explains a lot of things about what we see outside. Why are they all so much animosity amongst themselves? You see this. They’re always tearing down each other. It’s like lobsters in a pot, right? They go, you’re getting out. No, you don’t. You come down here with us. They’re always fighting among themselves. Why? Because if there’s a million people, it’s a million gods and a million desires, and they’re going to fight you for that. And pity if you’re in that because that’s all your life is, is fighting for your own desire to be over someone else.

Whereas with us, we can see a guy like Charlie Kirk, and we can say, well, I know I would disagree with him on some theological things. I’m sure of it. Even some political things maybe. It doesn’t matter because we are united by Christ. We’re united by him. So we can put aside some minor things. It doesn’t matter ultimately, eternally. It doesn’t matter. And you can see this.

Here’s a quote I saw online. I thought, I’ve got to fit this in somewhere. Stating about this assassination, and I feel like this explains things well.

They don’t kill you for being fascist. They call you fascist in order to justify killing you.

The hatred comes first.

Now I have to plaster on accusations to make me feel like I’ve justified my hatred towards you. And all those things that we just read in the Heidelberg, all those hatreds and animosities.

Glorying in Shame and Earthly Things

So their God is their belly. The next verse is something remarkable. “They glory in their shame.” They glory in their shame. How can they do that? And you sit there and say, well, we’ve seen it. We’ve seen it. Why in the world? It’s one thing to think, boy, I’m glad that guy is out of here. It’s another thing to say it to your spouse or something. I’m glad he got the bullet. But it’s yet another thing to say, what I need to do is sit in my car and turn on my video camera and go live on TikTok and tell the world how glad I am that he’s been shot. What is going on? Why would you do that?

They glory in their shame. And what is glory more than public declaration of how great you are? And so they go online because that’s where they can find some people who go, “Yas Queen” or whatever, and say, “Good job for you. That’s right. You’re sticking it up.” That’s good.

That’s insanity to us to have a thought like that and say, what I need to do is put it online. And now I’m no longer a substitute teacher. Yes. Yes, that’s true. But the glory in their shame, because that’s where they find some way of saying, yes, I’m not crazy because I have five people who liked my crazy video.

And then last, “their minds are on earthly things.” Now, this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t deal with what happens on earth. That’s not true. What would Paul think of that? He said, “I’m sitting in a prison, mouldering away, because I did things in real life. I didn’t just think holy thoughts. I actually went out and was obedient and did things, used words.”

So to have your mind on earthly things doesn’t mean, well, I’m not going to think about the things of earth. No. This just means that you’re thinking only of that, thinking only of this.

As their prophet has said, “Imagine all the people living for today.”

Their hymnal is small, three songs maybe. But they have a few. It’s kind of a banger, because we don’t have to imagine, do we? We don’t have to imagine all the people living for today.

But that’s not the contrast that Paul is saying. What’s the contrast that Paul is setting up? Well, read on, because we read it in Philippians 3, verse 20. He says, “don’t keep your minds on earthly things. Instead, do this. But our citizenship is in heaven.” Now, that doesn’t mean, oh, so we go live in heaven, and that’s it for the world, I’m gone. No, not at all. That means, why am I here? I am here on behalf, I’m an emissary. You’re an ambassador. And not just on a place which you don’t belong. Christ has the deed for this world. But now we just have to take care of all the people who are here. What do we do? We need to expand the kingdom. The kingdom is already here, but we’re also expanding into that land. We need to continue that.

But our citizenship is in heaven. Is it important to be a patriotic? Sure. Do I have allegiance to the state of Indiana? I do. I really do. But primarily, my citizenship is in heaven. Your citizenship is there. That should give you great courage and comfort. Now, because we know, that’s not escapism. The apostle won’t let you use that to be an escapist. He’s in prison because he was not an escapist.

Do Not Fall into Idolatry

So then, there it is. We know that their end is destruction. Their God is their belly, their desires. And their glory is in their shame with mindset on earthly things. OK, now what are we supposed to do about this? What is required of us? Because it was just unveiled, there are more of them than we thought. Or were there more of them than we thought?

I can’t remember how many millions of abortions we have had in this country. 50 million? 60 million? I don’t know. It’s up there. Does our country, or at least a certain portion of our country, love bloodshed? Yes. Yes, it does. So the fact that this was actually a man walking around instead of a baby in a womb is no matter. It’s no matter. So in one sense, it’s shocking. But in another sense, it’s like we knew it all along.

So what is required of us? Well, there are some things we should do. But there are some things first that we must not do. So first is the warning. The “do not.” Do not fall into the idolatry of making your desires into your God. Do not think that your anger, even, I get the anger. I understand it. There can be some righteous anger that happened here. But don’t let that, or fear, or self-righteousness, or any feeling you have, any desire that you have, that’s not going to win the day. That is not what’s going to win.

I’ve heard people say, “Oh, be angry and sin not.” Paul said this in Ephesians.

But he kept going and said, “Do not let the sun go down on your anger.” Yeah, OK, you can be angry for a time, righteously. But you’ve got to let it go fast.

There’s an emergency and you need someone to call the ambulance. And it’s like, go, go. And you get angry for a second. OK, all right, understandable. But you’ve got to let it go. You’ve got to let it go and not let your anger be around for days and days. Your anger must not win out over your reason, must not win over your faith or your hope in Jesus Christ. That’s where our lodestar is. That’s what we’re focused on is who is Jesus.

And as we heard earlier, I said I was going to cite it, Psalm 125:3. It’s just one verse turning to it. But it says this, which I thought was remarkable.

For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous.

Oh, that’s good. That’s good. The wicked are going to be going away. But why? Oh:

… lest the righteous stretch out their hands to do wrong.

So there is a way to wield power. The scepter of wickedness. That is, do not touch. Do not go there. Do not use wickedness to do your ends. The power of acting in your own strength and from your own desires. And that remains a temptation for us. But you must place your emotions in their proper place.

Because I tell you, saints, as strongly as I can say it, if you do this, if you allow your emotions to take a hold but just on the right rather than on the left, and you think, “I’m going to do righteous against those guys,” this church is going to have to stop advancing and spend its time fighting you. It is that bad because you have made your God your belly. We cannot have that here. The politics of it is actually immaterial.

But here’s another way that this false God, this God of our desires, how can it grab us away? How can it grab us away from this assembly? It is through, you’ve heard this, through the sin of empathy. Feel sorry for folks.

This can really affect the young folks here, by the way. Because here’s the difficulty of the gospel. You are going to lose friends. If you stick with Christ, you’re going to lose friends. You’re going to upset them. They could say they’re Christians, and you could lose them.

But you’re going to want to feel sorry for them or for sinners who are trapped in this. It’s like, well, they seem very nice. This girl is very nice. She’s a lesbian, but she’s very nice. Kindness can bring her into the gospel. Be kind, but be firm. Talk to her the right way. Because if you don’t, objects in motion keep going. And if you go toward that way, you will just leave the church. It might take a year, but it can happen.

And what’s going on? Your desires. Your desires for feeling pity for someone. Yeah, I can get the feeling pity, but then what do you do with that pity? You present the Lord Jesus to them is what you do with your pity.

Stand Firm with Joy and Reasonableness

So then the Apostle Paul tells us what we should do. And he says, it was great. Next chapter. Chapter 4. He lays it out. Now, so you know, as a reminder, the numbers were not there in the original. Paul didn’t go, “OK, this is a good chapter 4.” That’s not how they wrote. It was one long thing, and we have to figure out where the sentences and where the breaks are.

But you might be thinking, oh, the Apostle Paul, erudite scholar. He wrote Romans. OK, an egghead. What does he have to do to tell us this is a tough time? Hard men requires, tough times, hard men. This guy, this guy, he was slight of frame, most likely. His voice didn’t carry. He talked about that himself. His eyesight was probably bad, very squinty, not a very commanding presence. So is this the guy we need? Is this the guy we need? I don’t know.

Well, guess what? If you’re in that boat, Paul already has words for you because he told them to the Corinthians. So if you think you might know better than the Apostle about what we need now, he’ll say this to you. This is starting in 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians 11. I’m going to start halfway through verse 21 because, again, the guys didn’t quite mark the verses exactly right here, I think.

But whatever anyone else dares to boast of, I am speaking as a fool.

That’s Paul talking, by the way. Whatever else dares to boast of, he’s going to talk foolish talk to make a point.

I’m speaking as a fool. I also dare to boast of that. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I’m a better one. I am talking like a madman. With far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings and often near death.

Listen to this list.

Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the 40 lashes less one. 39 lashes, five times. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned.

He somehow survived it, but he was stoned.

Three times I was shipwrecked.

Shipwrecked three times.

A night and a day I was adrift at sea on frequent journeys in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from the Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers. In toil and hardship through many a sleepless night in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all of the churches.

Paul understands where we are. He knows suffering. He knows what’s going to happen next. He was there. He suffered through it. He suffered through it for you. He didn’t do it for himself. He did it for the church. He didn’t know Indiana was going to exist, but he did it for us. He’s qualified to address our current situation.

So what are we to do? Well, let’s look at Philippians 4, and he’ll tell us. Philippians 4, verse to verse, says this. “Therefore,” well, wait. “Therefore,” because of our citizenship in the verse before, our citizenship is in heaven.

Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord my beloved.

He could not have ladled more loving affection for these people than he did. My brothers, I love you. I long for you. My joy, my crown, my beloved, stand firm. That’s the command. Stand firm. That’s enough. That’s kind of a lot to stand firm.

We can stand firm on the truth because our God has given us citizenship in his kingdom. Who do we have to fear? We can be bold. We can speak the truth no matter what is happening. Remember, Charlie Kirk, what was he martyred for? Talking. That’s all he did. He was just talking. He was an organizer, too. But he was martyred for just talking. That’s it. And for standing firm while he was doing it.

OK. But we hear this, we go, OK, well, what kind of standing firm are we supposed to do? Because we can, like a toddler, “I’m not moving.” Are we just going to be stubborn, obnoxious, rude? No. There’s a proper godly flavor to how we stand firm. So we skip over a few verses because Paul goes on to a little tangent there in 2 through 2 and 3. And we go down to verse 4.

And interestingly, you probably know this verse. But we’re going to apply it to how we stand firm. These things go together. So stand firm how, Paul? In what manner?

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything. But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God.

Those are actually marching orders. Because these are commandments. These aren’t like Paul suggesting this. No. Commandments.

You must be joyful, says the man in the Roman prison. He says it twice to make sure we get the message. As we stand firm, there must be a certain lightness to our demeanor.

We have to take the truth seriously. But we must not take ourselves seriously. Let us lose if Christ wins. When hostility comes your way, be ready with a heart that will not return fire with fire. You don’t need to. Why? You’re a citizen of heaven. What a relief. What a relief.

So you must be joyful.

Two, you must be reasonable, says the man who has dealt with unreasonable and emotion-driven men his entire ministry. They either want to kill him or worship him. It’s like, dudes, calm down.

In this desire-driven world, you will meet plenty of people who are beholden by the god of their belly but do not realize it. In fact, I wonder if any of them realize it. They would never put it in those words.

You won’t be able to use reason to get them out, so you’ll be tempted to use some other method, scepter of wickedness, to get under their skin, to get their goat. But you are not to do that. You are to remain reasonable. If they cannot be reasonable, then you have to walk away. That’s how it goes. Maybe the next guy will get them. You won’t be able to use reason to get them out of where they are, but be faithful, and the Lord may just open their hearts and minds. You never know. You never know what kind of day they had. Be faithful.

So we must be joyful and reasonable, and also you must be free from anxiety. And this is the man who faced all sorts of anxieties, including anxieties for all of the churches, as we just read. He had to put those onto the back of his Lord Jesus. He was always worried about his churches, because they were always in danger, always had in danger from within and without.

And it’s the easiest thing in the world to be full of anxiety, because this world wants you to be full of anxiety. Why? Because this world worships the god of their belly. Frankly, the media wants you to be anxious because it’s easier to sell you stuff. Because it’s like, I’ll buy anything, just make me feel less anxious. So we cannot let anxiety dictate how you relate to the world or how you relate to other people and in this body here. You must be free from anxiety.

And the fourth part, you must be full of thanks. When hard things are happening, yes. When things are going well, don’t forget to thank God for that. And this is from again, the man who has suffered more in his body than this whole town.

Remember how Paul thought about his own suffering in that Roman jail. It is once again in Philippians 1, he tells us. So Philippians 1:12 again.

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.

And you’ve got to see when he says that, he’s talking about the big list of stuff that’s happened to him. Oh, you were lashed four times? Five times. You’re shipwrecked three times? He says, “What has happened to him has really served to advance the gospel.” What a lighthearted way to say that. Hey, it’s all for Christ, isn’t it?

“So that has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest, that my imprisonment is for Christ.” Let’s go on. “And most of the brothers.” Then he’s talking about the brothers in Rome. “Most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”

The Peace That Surpasses Understanding

Why would you suffer? Why would something bad happen to you? What’s God doing? What God is most likely doing to his believers is to help your brothers and sisters to be more confident. It’s to help them to be more bold.

Oh, I suffered. I lost a job. I lost a family member because of being faithful. I lost a bunch of friends. Why? So that way you can remember your citizenship is not here. Your citizenship is in heaven. And you can look. Can you suffer well? Can you suffer well? Even with the anxieties, I’m worried. Can you put that aside? And can you just say, “I’m just going to have to suffer with this. I’m going to have to believe in Christ.”

Do it well. What’s going to happen? You’re going to give the rest of us confidence. You’re going to help us all to be much more bold if you suffer for the gospel. That’s good. That is good fruit, friends. What a blessing you can be to your church here and the church universal if you can suffer well. If you can be ready to suffer well and do it as well as Paul did. And in a smaller way, like Charlie Kirk did.

And hear this promise in Philippians. This is Philippians 4-7. Look, if we can believe in Christ, if we can do these things, look what he promises for us.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

You’re not going to do it on your own. Christ will guard your heart. He will guard your mind. And you will be given peace.

That makes no sense, even to you. You walk through a horrible situation, you come out going, “That was bad, but somehow I’m at peace.” That makes no sense. Why? Because you’ve received the peace of God through your suffering for the gospel. That’s the lesson we’re supposed to learn. That’s the lesson we are to learn.

Because these gods, gods of the belly, our God’s a jealous God. Those will be destroyed. Hopefully some will be converted. That’d be wonderful. But those not, they will be destroyed. God is going to crush every god that rises in opposition to him. Believe it. The god of the belly, gone. Has no hope against the God of Heaven. He will crush that god like he does all the others. It’s going to be for his glory and for your good.

So remember that. Remember where your citizenship is. Remember what Christ has purchased for you. It was costly. It was his own body and blood.

But he’s not dead. He’s not in the grave. His body is in heaven. Renewed. Ours will be too, no matter what happens to us. So trust in God. Trust in him. Have confidence in him. Stand firm. No matter what else, stand firm with joy and with confidence.

Prayer

Let us pray. Our great God and father, we thank you first of all that you are a jealous God. And these gods of the bellies have no power against you. You will crush them. You will take care of them. We do not need to do that. What we need to do is to stand firm. And to stand firm in belief in you and in your justice and your vengeance. Help us to do that and thus be obedient to you. Help us to make a difference, if nothing else, in our church, in our family. Help us to be content with that. Help us to be ready for something greater if you would give it to us. So Lord, no matter what happens, help us to always be confident in your son. And what he’s done for us and what he continues to do for us. And as he intercedes for us even this second, we thank you. We thank you in the name of your most blessed son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Communion

Saints, welcome to this royal table. You are invited by the blood of the Son of God to participate in this. The only requirement is for you to know that you don’t deserve it.

This is not your table. This is not Trinity Reformed’s table. This is the Lord’s table. And he bought it. He paid for it and invites his people to come. If you’re a citizen of heaven, I invite you to join with us. I invite you to know that our citizenship is in heaven. And from it, we await a savior.

The Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. The same creative power, the same power that will transform and take the nations to himself. That’s the power he uses to resurrect you.

Same power. Can we trust that power? Yes and amen, we can. Yes, we can.

So saints, should we fear death? No. It is a fearful thing though. But how do we not fear death? It’s because we need constant reminding that our citizenship is in Christ, is in heaven. And we need constant reminding that we will also receive a resurrection like our Lord’s. That should be what the table reminds us. That is going to be for us also. He is the first fruits and we will walk behind him in glory. From heaven, we await the savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He’s going to transform your lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

May he be glorified and may we be grateful for his goodness toward us.

Now hear the benediction from Hebrews 13 verses 20 and 21.

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Go in peace.

Photo by Tetiana Grypachevska on Unsplash