LENT
2
February
23-25, 2013
Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude
Text:
Philippians 3:17-4:1
“STAND FIRM IN THE LORD”
1.
Enemies
are everywhere.
2.
But
our home is in heaven.
3.
So
follow the Leader!
If you are a fan of war movies or
historical dramas you have probably seen the scene where the order is given to stand
firm and hold the line. It might be the Roman centurion encouraging his legionnaires
as the Gauls attack or General Washington with the Continentals as the Redcoats
advance or the Union captain with his soldiers as the Confederates charge or
the sergeant with his platoon holding the high ground as the Taliban move
forward. Again and again in wartime it is necessary for soldiers to stand firm,
to hold the line against the enemy’s attack. Brothers and sisters, we are in a
war. This is no movie. It’s real life. We are part of Jesus’ Church on earth,
also known as the Church Militant, the fighting Church, so with eager hearts
let’s focus our attention on words of God to strengthen weak knees and give us
backbone. Hear the Lord’s encouragement to stand firm in the Lord.
Why? Enemies are everywhere! “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.”
Nothing new. Some 2000 years ago the Philippian Christians needed to know they
were in the Church militant. Enemies of Christ were everywhere. But let’s focus
on the ones we deal with. Do you understand that you live in a country that is
up in arms against arms because of the awful murder of 20 children and six
adults at Newtown but makes not a peep about the arms of the 1,200,000 little
babies cut to pieces inside their mothers’ wombs each year in America? Do the
math. That’s a slaughter of almost 3300
children a day. Why is there no uproar? Because in America the murder of babies
is called abortion and is legal. Where are the lawmakers and the press
conferences? Jesus died for unborn as well as born. Enemies of the cross of
Christ. You understand you live in a country that is taking glory in shame,
more and more it is rejoicing in upholding, protecting and advancing sexual
sinning. Practicing homosexual activity is called normal instead of perversion
and the nation is proud of how far it has come. More and more it puts pressure
on Bible believing Christians to accept and bow down to the god of political
correctness. Enemies of the cross of Christ. Let’s not forget the growing
influence of Islam not only worldwide but in our country. Islam which views
Christ as a lesser prophet to Mohammed and no Savior for the world. Enemies of
the cross of Christ.
But they are not
just on the outside. In the visible Christian Church mainline denominations and
megachurches one after the other gradually switch from emphasizing Jesus as
Savior from sin and the mission of the Church to proclaim Christ crucified to
what’s called social gospel seeing as the real mission of the church to end
poverty or world hunger. Great goals. Great things for all people to work at,
but not Jesus’ mission. He could have ended world hunger and poverty when He
was on earth. He still could. But that’s not the plan. It was the cross. And
those who take people’s eyes off of it are enemies of the cross of Christ. Their minds are on earthly things. I have a
friend in Texas who was bilked out of thousands of dollars by a man who
befriended him in the name of Christ. A Christian taken advantage of by an
enemy of the cross of Christ. There are others. The Bible calls them belly
servers, those who use their Christianity for financial gain for their business
or start churches just to get a paycheck. Their god is their stomach. Oh and there’s
more. What about the enemy living inside of us? Our own sinful nature. Be
honest. Are you in weakness adapting to the society you live in so that drunkenness
is funny instead of disgusting, and sex before marriage or living together
without being married is just the way it is these days? Is your mind more on
earthly things than what God says is important? Enemies are everywhere. Their
destiny is eternal destruction. There is a need to stand firm.
By
now you probably feel like the Light Brigade in Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s famous
poem. You know, “Cannons on the left. Cannons on the right. Cannons in front.” Or Henny Penny. “The sky is falling! The sky
is falling!” “No, it’s not,” says your Lord. “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.”
We need to stand firm in the Lord because enemies are everywhere. But more
importantly, heaven is our home. Keep your perspective brothers and sisters.
Those who have visited with me in pre-marriage counseling know I like to use
this illustration: “Your wedding. Your marriage. Your wedding. Your marriage.”
Why put so much time, energy and money into something that is less than a day
and ignore what is to last a lifetime? It makes no sense. Why get so uptight
about the things of this life when heaven is our home. Earthly life. Heaven.
Earthly life. Heaven!
And
scared, worried? This is Jesus we are talking about! Look at Him! He has the
power to bring everything under His control. And He is going to use that to
transform us from soldiers in the Church militant to rulers of heaven in the
Church Triumphant. Heaven is our home. Everything that is going on in our
country and our world is temporary. Every battle with every enemy of the cross
of Christ will not last. Because Jesus has made heaven our home we can stare
battle in the face with a smirk and a grin that says, “This too shall pass!”
Heaven is our home.
But
until we get that home we need to stand firm in the Lord. “Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and
crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!”
How? “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of
those who live according to the pattern we gave you.”
Follow the leader. Paul urged the Philippians follow his example and the
example of those who lived according to their pattern. But Paul wasn’t the real
leader. Jesus is. Jesus had called Paul from being a zealous persecutor of
Christians to be a zealous proclaimer of Christ. Jesus had forgiven Paul. Jesus
kept forgiving Paul. So Paul denied himself, took up his cross and followed
Jesus. He describes his life as one of daily repentance, resisting temptation, of
devoting himself to God’s word, of prayer and patient endurance. He called on
the Philippians to stand firm in the Lord by following that example of
Christian living.
This
is why it is so important today for pastors and teachers to watch the way they
live and what we teach very carefully. Others are supposed to learn from
watching us how to stand firm in the Lord. But it isn’t just pastors and
Christian day school teachers, it’s elected leaders in a church and Sunday
School teachers. But it’s not just church leaders. Parents and grandparents,
people are watching you. God’s people. They might look like children and they
are, children of God, and if they are going to stand firm in the Lord they need
to see what that looks like from you. So what do they see from you? We’ve all
heard the phrase, “Do as I say and not as I do,” and recognize its hypocrisy.
How much better to be able to say, “Do as I say and as I do. Follow me as I
follow Christ.” Stand firm in the Lord.
If
you are a war movie fan you know that in the good ones, the charge of the enemy
fails. Dramatically the line always holds, the hill is held. You also know that
in the realistic ones that’s not true. Sometimes the enemy wins. Brothers and
sisters, the Lord has not yet dismissed any of us from service in the Church
Militant. We must continue to fight and continue to stand firm. Sometimes it
might seem like the enemies are winning, that we can‘t hold out any longer. Not
true. Heaven is our home. Every replay of the ongoing battles shows that Jesus
wins. Always. We don’t stand firm by ourselves. We stand firm in the Lord!
Amen.
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