Philippians 3

CHAPTER 3THEME: Prize for Christian living; Paul changed his bookkeeping system of the past; Paul changed his purpose for the present; Paul changed his hope for the futureWe have seen the philosophy of Christian living: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Php_1:21). We have seen the pattern for Christian living: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Php_2:5). Now we come to the prize for Christian living which is summarized in Paul’s personal testimony: “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (v. Php_3:14). We will see in this chapter that Paul changed his bookkeeping system of the past, he changed his purpose for the present, and he changed his hope for the future. Paul believed that God was going to establish a kingdom on this earth; he never changed his view on that. But he did see that there is a marvelous, wonderful hope for believers in Christboth Jew and Gentilethe day when Christ will take His own out of the world.

Philippians 3:1

PAUL CHANGED HIS BOOKKEEPING SYSTEM OF THE PAST"Finally, my brethren" gives us the impression that Paul is coming to the conclusion of this epistle. He must have intended this to be a very brief thank-you note to the Philippian believers. But we are just midway in the epistle; so obviously the Spirit of God prompted him to go on. My wife reminded me in a conference some time ago that when I was speaking I said, “Let me say this to you in the final analysis, and then I’ll be through"then I went on talking another fifteen minutes. She said, “You weren’t through at all.” So I told her I was just being scriptural, that I was doing it the way Paul did it. His final message was going to be, “Rejoice in the Lord.” I think that would still be his final message if he were here today. He has shown how three menhimself, Timothy, and Epaphroditusall had the mind of Christ. They were able to rejoice even in sickness and imprisonment. The early church could rejoice amid the fires of persecution. Besides, Paul is saying that it has been no burden to him to write this letter. He has no burden on his heart such as there had been when he wrote to the Galatians and the Corinthians. The Philippians have been a great joy to him. Now he wants them to rejoice, too. Notice that it is actually a command: “Rejoice in the Lord.” “To write the same thing to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.” It is safe for him to write to the Philippians. They were spiritually mature. They loved Paul, and he loved them. He felt close to them. So he says it is not grievous, or irksome, to write to them. It is safe for him to write to them because he knows they will understand.

Philippians 3:2

“Beware of dogs.” This is not a word of warning to the mailmen. I once had a dog that hated mailmen, and I don’t know why. We changed mailmen several times during the period we had him, and he had the same attitude toward each of them. But Paul is not referring to animals in this verse. We will get some insight into this thinking by turning back to the prophecy of Isaiah, who warned against the false prophets of his day: “His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber” (Isa_56:10). Isaiah was warning the people against the false prophets who were attempting to comfort the people and were telling them that everything was fine instead of warning them of coming disaster.

The northern kingdom had already gone into captivity because the false prophets had given them a false sense of security. God was warning the southern kingdom not to do the same thing. He was calling the false prophets “dumb dogs.” They won’t speak out. They won’t tell it as it is. Dogs are those who are not declaring the full counsel of God. We have the same grave danger in our affluent society. Comfort is the word of the day. We look for comfortable places to stay when we are traveling. We enjoy all the creature comforts that we can afford. The desire for comfort has carried over into the church. There is a danger of just comforting the people of the congregation because that is what they would like to have coming from the pulpit. A prominent member of a congregation which I served left the church because he said I never gave him any comforting messages. I found out later that in his business he was not always ethical. In fact, some considered him very unethical. Frankly, he didn’t need messages of comfort. He needed messages of warning. I think that was what he didn’t like. It may be that he thought I knew something of his business dealings, which I absolutely did not know at the time. In fact, I have never preached a sermon at any individual in my life. I have tried to preach what the Word of God says. Often that is not a comforting message. When I went to see my doctor, I tried my best to be evasive with him. I told him that I knew someone who had the same trouble I did and he was given medicine and recovered. As he examined me, he said, “Dr. McGee, if you need medication, I will give it to you, but I don’t think you need medication. You are in trouble.” Well, that was not a comforting message! He told me candidly, “I’m going to tell you the truth, because if I don’t, you will not have confidence in me. You have cancer.” I have thanked him for that ever since. I wanted to hear the truth. Don’t you want to hear the truth? In Isaiah’s day there were a great many false prophets who were comforting the people when they should have been warning them. Isaiah likens the false prophets to dumb dogs. You see, a good sheep dog is constantly alert to danger. If a lion or a bear makes a foray into the flock, that dog will bark like mad and run it away if he can. He gives warning of the approach of any kind of danger. But the false prophets gave no warning at all. Therefore the southern kingdom had been lulled to sleep and resented Isaiah’s effort to arouse them. America today is in the same position. We are going to sleep, my friend, under the comfortable blanket of affluence. We like the idea of comfort, of getting something for nothing, of taking it easy, of having a good day. My feeling is that somebody ought to do a little barking. So Paul warned, “Beware of dogs"beware of men who are constantly comforting you and are not giving you the Word of God. “Beware of evil workers.” This is another group that would actually abuse and use believers. They are not honest. “Beware of the concision"he slurred the word circumcision and said concision. He is saying that they are no longer of the true circumcision, referring to the legalizers, those who were attempting to force Christians to keep the law of Moses for salvation and sanctification.

Philippians 3:3

“We are the circumcision.” What does Paul mean by that? He makes it very clear at the end of the Epistle to the Galatians: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature” (Gal_6:15). The old circumcision is out. God is not looking for a mere external observance. True circumcision is of the heart. It is the new birth, a new heart attitude toward God. True circumcision is being in Christ. “And have no confidence in the flesh.” We do not have confidence in our old nature. We trust Christ alone. We do not look to ourselves for salvation, nor can we live the Christian life in our old nature. It must be Christ in us. These legalizers would follow Paul in his missionary journeys. After he was gone, they would meet with the believers and say something like this: “Well, we know that brother Paul says we are to have no confidence in the flesh, that we are not to trust the rituals nor the sacrifices, and that the Law won’t save us. He does well to say that, because he doesn’t have very much to rest upon. He doesn’t have the background in Judaism that we do. He says that because of his ignorance and the failure of his life to measure up to the requirements of the Law. So of course he has no confidence in the flesh.” Now Paul is going to answer that.

Philippians 3:4

Paul says, “If there is any person who could have confidence in the flesh, then I could have even more confidence.” He is willing to stack his religious life against that of any man, and he knows that he could measure up to him and surpass him"I more.” Now he is going to list seven things in which he trusted at one time. This is religion. If anyone could have been saved by religion, Saul of Tarsus would have been the man.

Philippians 3:5

These are still things that people boast about today, but none of them can save you.

1. “Circumcised in the eighth day.” This is a basic rite of the Mosaic system. Well, of course he didn’t get up out of the crib on the eighth day and go down to the temple or synagogue to have the circumcision performed. It means that his parents took him on his eighth day to be circumcised. He is making it clear that he had godly parents. They reared him according to the Mosaic Law. You will remember that the Lord Jesus also had godly parents who brought Him to the temple to be circumcised. One of the things that hurt me and held me back in my early ministry was the fact that I had not been brought up in a Christian home. My dad was a heavy drinker who would not darken the door of a church. He was very bitter and very prejudiced. He did make me go to Sunday school, and I thank God for that. But I never saw a Bible or heard a prayer in my home. When I went away to seminary, I did not know even the books of the Bible. I would meet other fellows who had been brought up in Christian homes. They seemed to know so much. I always felt deprived, felt that I had missed something. Well, Paul did not have this handicap. He could say, “I was circumcised on the eighth day,” which means he had godly parents.
2. “Of the stock of Israel.” Probably many of the Judaizers were half-breeds; Paul was not. He was of the stock of Israel. I think you could have checked Paul’s genealogy in the temple in that day. Paul had a genealogy, a background, and he knew he belonged.
3. “Of the tribe of Benjamin.” This is like saying that he belonged to the best family. Benjamin had been the favorite son of old Jacob. Rachel had given birth to Benjamin when she died, and she had called him “son of my sorrow,” but Jacob had named him “son of my right hand.” Rachel had been the bright spot in his life before Peniel, and when he had looked in the crib at little Benjamin, he had seen him as Rachel’s son. Benjamin became his right hand, his walking stick, the one on whom he leaned. Also the first king of Israel came from the tribe of Benjamin. His name was Saul, and I have a notion that Saul of Tarsus was named after him. So Paul could say with pride that he came from the tribe of Benjamin. It is an advantage to be able to say, “My father was a minister of the Word of God,” or, “My father was a layman who stood for the Word of God.” On the other hand, sometimes it can work for a hindrance. I find people who say, “Dr. McGee, I was brought up in such-and-such a church; my grandfather was a founder of the church. There is even a window in the church dedicated to him. So I’ll never leave that church.” That can be a hindrance if the church has become liberal and the Word of God is no longer preached there. But for Paul, being of the tribe of Benjamin was a definite asset.
4. “An Hebrew of the Hebrews.” This means he was a leader. He was in the highest stratum of the religious circle. He was up at the top.
5. “As touching the law, a Pharisee.” The Pharisees represented the very best in Israel. They were a religious-political party, and their aim was to establish the kingdom. They had arisen sometime after or during the Captivity. They were fundamental. They believed in the integrity of the Scriptures; they believed in angels; they believed in the resurrection and in miracles. They were also extremely nationalistic in their politics. I think the reason they sent Nicodemus to see Jesus was because they thought, Here is a prophet come out of Galilee. If he will just let us hitch our wagon to his star, we’ll go places because we know how to manipulate Rome. The Pharisees thought they could bring the kingdom by political manipulation. They wanted to establish the kingdom of God here upon this earth. Paul could say that he was a Pharisee.
6. “Concerning zeal, persecuting the church.” Paul thought he was doing God’s will when he persecuted the church. The other Pharisees were willing to relax when they had run the Christians out of Jerusalem, but Paul was determined to ferret them out all over the world. That was his purpose on his way to Damascus at the time of his conversion.
7. “Touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.” Notice that he does not say he was sinless or perfect; he says he was blameless. In Rom_7:7 Paul tells us his story: “…I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Paul does not claim sinless perfection. This commandment showed him his sin. Now if you break the commandment, “Thou shalt not steal,” you’ll have the evidence, or you may leave your fingerprints back at the scene of the crime. The same thing could be said about murderyou would have a corpus delicti on your hands. It is impossible to commit adultery without somebody else knowing about it. But you can covet and nobody would be the wiser. If Paul had kept quiet, we might think he had reached the place of sinless perfection, but he very frankly said he had not. He says that the Law “slew him.” What he means by “touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless” is that he had brought the proper sacrifice for his sin to make things right before God. Paul was sincere. Regarding the Law, Paul was a supersaint. He had every right to say, “If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more.” These were the things that Paul had on the credit side of the ledger. It was such a big total that he felt all of these things commended him to God. He thought they were all credits to him. On the debit side of his ledger was a Person he hated. That was Jesus Christ. Out of his hatred Paul was trying to eliminate the followers of Jesus Christ. Then one day the Lord Jesus met Paul on the road to Damascus, and Paul changed his whole bookkeeping system. What had been a debit became a credit, and what he had considered a credit became a debit. It was a complete revolution.

Philippians 3:7

On the credit side of the ledger Paul had been adding up his background and his character and his religion. It seemed like an impressive listand it was, on the human plane. Suddenly it all became a debithe no longer trusted in those things because he met Jesus Christ. He had hated Him before and was on the way to Damascus to persecute His followers, but now the One on the debit side was moved to the credit side. He put his entire trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, my friend, if the bookkeeping system of this country were transformed like that, it would upset the economy of the world. It would be a revolution. Actually, any conversion is a revolution because what things are gain become a loss, and loss becomes gain. It turns you upside down and right side up. It gets you in an altogether different position. That is what conversion is. Now there is a time lapse between verses Php_3:7 and Php_3:8. I don’t know the length of time, but I think it extends all the way through Paul’s life from his conversion to the time he was writing this epistle. He had gone on his missionary journeys, and now he was in a prison in Rome.

Philippians 3:8

Paul’s conversion was not just an experience of a moment. Conversion is not a balloon ascension. A great many people think that you can go down to some altar and have an experience, see a vision, and be carried to the heightsand that’s it. Oh, my friend, conversion is something that stays with you. It is not for just a moment. Although it happens in a moment of time, it continues for a lifetime. And sanctification is not a great emotional experience; it is a daily walk in dependence upon God. Paul says that since that moment of his conversion he lives for Christ. He has suffered the loss of all things. Jesus Christ is uppermost in his thinking. The things that he used to consider most precious he now considers to be dungthat is strong language! He says he flushes his religion down the drain. He flushes away all the things he used to trust. Now he trusts the Lord Jesus and Him only for his salvation. I remember hearing Dr. Carroll say, “When I was converted, I lost my religion.” A great many people need to lose their religion and find Jesus Christ as Paul did. He was so revolutionized that what had been his prized possession is now relegated to the garbage can! Paul goes on with a theological statement of what happened to him.

Philippians 3:9

This is the verse that came to John Bunyan as he walked through the cornfields one night, wondering how he could stand before God. He said that suddenly he saw himselfnot just as a sinner, but as sin from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet. He realized that he had nothing, and that Christ had everything. “Not having mine own righteousness"his own righteousness, as he has made clear, is of the Law; that is, it is law-keeping. For example, he could boast of the fact that he kept the Sabbath day. But Paul now says to let no man judge you in respect of the Sabbath days (see Col_2:16). My friend, I could boast of the fact that I preach so many times during the year and that I have a daily radio program, but these things count nothing for salvation. “Mine own righteousness” is a legal righteousness, and God has already declared that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in His sight (see Isa_64:6), and God is just not taking in dirty laundry. However, He will take in dirty sinners, and He is the One who will clean them up. Paul had given up his claim to all of his own righteousness. When speaking at the Hollywood Christian group years ago, I recall a young couple who had been converted. They were talented kids and were really beautiful people. On the human side they had everything. They were called on to give a testimony before my message. They said that now that they had been converted they were going to use their wonderful talent for the Lord. So after I had finished teaching that night, I met with them over a cup of coffee.

I said, “I have a question I would like to ask you that sort of bothers me. You made the statement that you have a wonderful talent to use for Jesus. I would like to know what it is. You danced in nightclubs, you sang in nightclubs, and you told stories in nightclubs. Do you think Jesus could use that?” Well, they said they hadn’t thought of it like that. I said, “Look, when you come to Christ, you come as bankrupt sinners.

You don’t offer Him anything. You come with nothing. You are beggars. You have nothing; He has everything, and He offers it to you.” Oh, my friend, let’s get this verse into our thinking! “Be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” “By faith” is the important word. That is the only way in the world you can get it. You can’t work for it; you can’t buy it; you can’t steal it. You just trust Him. “The righteousness which is of God” came about because, when Christ died on the cross, He subtracted your sins, and He rose again from the dead for your justification, your righteousness. My friend, God can’t even stand us in our unregenerate state. We are not attractive to Him! The very fact that He loved us and gave His Son for us is the most amazing statement ever made. We are accepted in the Beloved.

Philippians 3:10

PAUL CHANGED HIS PURPOSE FOR THE PRESENTPaul is no longer going to try to build up legal righteousness. He isn’t going to see how religious and pious he can be or how much he can persecute the church. Since he has changed his bookkeeping system of the past, he is also going to change his purpose for the present. Listen to what he is going to do: Some people get the impression that being saved by faith means there is no motivation for conduct and works. They think that if a person is saved by grace it must mean he just sits around and twiddles his thumbs. Nothing could be further from the truth. Saving faith is a faith that moves you. James said (and he is not talking about law-works but faith-works), “…shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works” (Jas_2:18). My friend, if you have been saved, I want to see your works.

If you don’t have works, you are not saved! That is exactly what Paul is saying. If you have been saved by faith you have a new motivation, a new life purpose, a new life-style. If your faith in Christ hasn’t changed you, you haven’t been saved. You are still the same old man producing the same old life. Paul dissipates any notion that being saved by faith means you can sit in a rocking chair and rock yourself all the way to heaven. Paul exhibits an effort and an energy that is derived from the Holy Spirit, which is far greater than any legal effort. Under the Law, this man was willing to go to Damascus to stamp out the followers of Christ. Under the grace-faith system, he will go to the end of the earth to make followers of Christ and to witness for Him. Faith produces something. Let us be perfectly clear about this. Your works have nothing to do with your salvation.

You are shut up to a cross for salvation. God has only one question for the lost sinner to answer: “What will you do with Jesus who died for you?” If you will accept Him as your Savior, you are saved by faith. That is the righteousness that comes only by faith. Even your life after salvation doesn’t build up a righteousness that has anything to do with your salvation. Your faith in Christ is a motivation for you to live for God. That is the reason Paul went on to live as he did. I just do not understand people who are doing nothing for God. Some people say that they can’t do anything. Well, to be very candid with you, you can help me or other Bible teachers get out the Word of God. I’m an old man, but I am not going to quit. I’m going to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God. I have told God that if He would let me live, I’d get out His Word as long as I live. Oh, my friend, our faith in Christ gives a real motivation to work for Him! “That I may know him"Paul at the end of his life still had the ambition to know Christ. Today some saints give me the impression that they have complete knowledge and they only need to polish their halo every morning and are ready to take off at any moment. Yet Paul, the greatest missionary the world has ever seen, said at the end of his life, “My ambition is still to know ChristHis person and the power of His resurrection.” The greatest comfort in my life is the reality of Christ. I need the reality of Christ in my lifenow don’t point an accusing finger at me, because that’s what you need also. “And the fellowship of his sufferings"oh, how we need to know the fellowship of His sufferings! I was moved to tears by a letter from someone who, after reading our message on Psalms 22, wrote, “Oh, I never knew how much Christ suffered for me!” My friend, I want to know the fellowship of His sufferings, I want to enter into them. To know Christ and His work of redemption will engage our attention for eternity. We are going to spend all eternity praising Him for that. If you are bored with it now, if you don’t enjoy praising Christ now, I don’t know why you should want to go to heaven. “If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” When Paul uses the word if he is not expressing a doubt about his participation in the Rapture. Rather, he is affirming that he will have part in it with great joy. Paul did not expect to attain perfection in this life; therefore, he wanted to have full participation in the coming Rapture. When someone tells me that he does not believe in the Rapture, I wonder about his relationship to the person of Christ. Paul is saying, “My ambition, the thing I’m moving toward, is not only that I might know Him but that I might have a meaningful, joyous part in the ‘out-resurrection,’ which is the rapture of the church.” The Old Testament saints are not to be raised until the end of the Great Tribulation Period (see Dan_12:1-3). The rest of the dead will not be raised until the end of the Millennium. Have you ever stopped to think what the coming of Christ really means? Most of us think, “Boy, it will get us out of this old world.” Paul says, “It will get me into His presence.”

Philippians 3:12

The knowledge that he will not attain perfection does not deter Paul from moving in that direction. Perfection means complete maturity. Paul knew he had not arrived. He certainly agreed with Peter that we should “…grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ …” (2Pe_3:18). Now the next verse will give us the modus operandi of the life of Paul:

Philippians 3:13

“I count not myself to have apprehended"Paul is saying that he hadn’t arrived. Oh, so many saints feel comfortable in their ignorance. They think they know it all. “This one thing I do.” Talk about the simple lifeif we could get the Christian life down to where we should have it, it would really be an uncomplicated life. Paul had whittled his life down to one point. “Forgetting those things which are behind.” He is leaving the past behind with all his mistakes, not letting it handicap him for the future. The futurehe lives in the present in the anticipation of the future when he will grow and develop. (Someone has well said that today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.)

Philippians 3:14

“I press toward the mark for the prize.” Paul likens himself to a track star, running for a prize. We must remember that Paul had witnessed the Olympic Gamesat least, he had every opportunity to do so. There was a great amphitheater in Ephesus which seated one hundred thousand people, and the Olympic Games were held there at times. Paul was living in Ephesus for three years, and it is difficult for me to believe that he hadn’t seen the games, especially since he used so many figures of speech that were taken form those athletic events. “The prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus"the prize is not some earthly reward but it is to be caught up and be in the presence of Christ. “The high calling of God” is sometimes translated “the upward call of God.” We are going to be in His presence. We are going to be like Him. These are things that Paul says are out yonder in the future for him. Now let’s be clear on one thing: we don’t run for salvation. Salvation is not the prize. Either we have Christ or we don’t have Him. We either trust Him or we don’t trust Him. The only way we can have salvation is through faith in Christ. It is a gift.

A gift is different from a prize. The wonderful folk on our radio staff presented me with a birthday gift. Somebody said, “We have a gift for you, Dr. McGee,” and handed a box to me. I believed them and I took it. I didn’t put my hands behind my back and say, “Well, I’m not sure you really mean business.

I am not sure that you intend to do this for me.” I just accepted it and thanked them for it. I didn’t have to run a race to win it; I didn’t have to work for it. It was a gift. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God; Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph_2:8-9). Salvation is not won at a race. Salvation is a gift which is accepted. Now Paul, after receiving eternal life, is out running for a prize. Christ became everything to him, and he is running a race that he might win Christ. In what way? Well, someday he is going to appear in His presence. His whole thought is: “When I come into His presence, I don’t want to be ashamed.” John said that it is possible to be ashamed at His appearing: “And now, little children, abide in him, that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming” (1Jn_2:28). There are a great many Christians today talking about wishing Christ would come, who, if they really knew what it will mean to them, would probably like to postpone it for a while.

If you think that you can live a careless Christian life and not have to answer for it, you are entirely wrong. One of these days you will have to stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of the way you lived your life. I suggest that you get down on the racecourse and start living for Him.

Philippians 3:15

“As many as be perfect"what does he mean by that? I think I can illustrate this by my orange trees. My three orange trees are loaded with fruit this year. Some of the oranges are still green, but for this particular time of year, they are perfect. They are perfect oranges. But if you come and see me in a month, they will not be perfect oranges if they stay just like they are now.

You see, when Paul says “perfect,” he means arriving where one should be in maturation. Another illustration would be that of a baby. Suppose we have a baby here seventeen months old. My, what a wonderful baby he ishe wins a blue ribbon. But if you see him seventeen years later and he is still saying, “Da-da,” there is something radically wrong. Maturation is the thought Paul has in mind.

He is saying this: “Let us, therefore, as many as are complete in Christ, who are growing normally in Christ, let us be thus minded.” In other words, have the same mind as Paul. Get out on the racetrack with Paul and press on toward the same goal. “And if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.” Maybe you have some other idea, and maybe God does have something else for you to do. If you are willing to do it, He will show it to you. God is able to lead a willing believer. You may remember that the psalmist told us not to be like the horse and the mule that must have a bridle in his mouth in order to be led. If God must lead you around like that, it will hurt. Why not let Him lead you by His eye?

That is the way He would like to do it. This is what Paul is talking about"God shall reveal even this unto you.” God will reveal His will to you if you want to be led. I hear Christians say, “If only I knew the will of God.” It’s a matter of being in touch with the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a matter of drawing close to Him. It is a willingness to do His will when He shows it to you. There is no little formula for discovering the will of God.

One cannot live a careless life and expect a vision or an angel or some green light to appear to show the way to go in a crisis. Knowing the will of God comes through a day-by-day walk with Him and a willingness to be led by Him. This will keep you on the right route through life, and it will be a great joy to your heart.

Philippians 3:16

Paul is encouraging the Philippian believers to get out on the racetrack. He wants them to press on for the prizethe high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Then he goes on to give himself as an example.

Philippians 3:17

I wish I could say that. I can’t, but Paul could. He says, “If you want to know how to do it, watch me.” This is not to be an imitation. What he means is that you learn to share the power of Christ in the body of Christ, the church. I believe it is proper for a believer to function within a Christian organization, a church. It doesn’t have to be a building with a tall steeple on it. Many folk think they must go to a certain type of building. That is not necessary. You can function within a Christian organization. My feeling is that if there is a good Bible church in your community where the Word of God is given out, you are out of the will of God if you are not identified with it. If there is a good Christian organization in your town through which God is working, and you are not supporting it, I think you are out of the will of God. This, I believe, is what Paul means here and what he says elsewhere. Now Paul discusses the negative side.

Philippians 3:18

This is as severe a condemnation as you can find of those who profess to be Christians. They claim to be Christian, yet they contradict their profession by their lives. Their God is their bellythat’s an awful thing! This means that they are led by their appetites. Some professing Christians have an appetite for money. They will do most anything for the almighty dollar. Others have such an appetite for sex that it becomes actually their god. Others covetthat is the cause of much of the strife and vainglory. The basic cause of it is that they have their hearts and minds on earthly things. They live for self and self only, and they actually glory in this. They are proud of what they should be ashamed. Paul is saying that if you have trusted Christ, if you have had that kind of revolution that happened to him on the Damascus road, if Christ is the all-absorbing thinking of your mind and your time and your talent and your possessions, then this will tell in your life. James put it like this: “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works” (Jas_2:17-18). In other words, my friend, if you haven’t any works you are not going to convince your neighbor. He will judge your faith by your works. As Calvin said, “Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is not alone.” Some folk feel that the statement “whose God is their belly” is crude.

Well, the statement is not crude, but the condition it speaks of is certainly crude. How tragic it is to see Christians who are given over to the passing things of this world, who “mind earthly things.”

Philippians 3:20

PAUL CHANGED HIS HOPE FOR THE FUTUREA better translation for “conversation” is citizenship. It means the total way of life; it means a new life-style. An even better translation is that made by Mrs. Montgomery: “For our city home is in heaven.” Probably that is closer to what Paul is saying. The Greek word for “conversation” is politeuo, meaning “to act as a citizen.” The city of Philippi was a Roman colony. In Philippi the laws of Rome were enforced. The people wore the same kind of styles that were worn in Rome. They spoke Latin. Everything in Philippi was like Rome because it was a colonial city. Today, believers, collectively called the church, should be a colony of heaven, and they ought to act like they act in heaven and speak the language of heaven. Unfortunately, this is not always the case, but it should be our goal. Paul is saying that we are ambassadors of Christ here on this earth; we are to represent heaven and heaven’s message here upon earth today, because “our citizenship is in heaven.” “From whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Paul expresses the hope of the believer on the high plane of praise to God. It is the joyful anticipation of His return. The hope of the believer in the New Testament is never the Great Tribulation Period. After he says our citizenship is in heaven, he says that from there “we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” He doesn’t say anything about going through the Great Tribulation Period, which will be a time of judgment, and the church is delivered from judgment. Believers will not go through the Great Tribulation any more than Enoch went through the Flood. Many folk maintain that the Lord can preserve the church through the Great Tribulation. Yes, He can; God kept Noah in a boat through the Flood, but He took Enoch out of the world. There will be two groups of people who will be His during the Great Tribulation Period.

One will be taken out, as He says to the church in Philadelphia: “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Rev_3:10). The other group will be going through the Great Tribulation. There will be a great company of Gentiles and there will be 144,000 of Israel who will go through the Great Tribulation Period because they are to be sealed by God. Let me digress to say that the teaching that the church is to go through the Great Tribulation is becoming increasingly absurd to me. The advocates of this theory maintain that there is not a verse in Scripture that says the church will not go through the Great Tribulation. While it is true that it doesn’t say it in those words, neither is there a verse in Scripture that has anything to say about the church not doing other things. For instance, I am confident that we are all going to have a position, a job to do , throughout eternity, but Scripture does not go into detail on that sort of thing. However, Scripture is very clear on the fact that the church has a glorious, wonderful hope for the future. It seems to many of us that it is tissue-thin between where we are now and the Rapture of the church.

However, Scripture does not tell us when Christ will come. Apparently Paul felt that during his lifetime the Lord could come, and there is no record of Paul’s expecting to first go through the Great Tribulation. He experienced a lot of trouble during his life, but he never interpreted that as the Great Tribulation. With a note of glad expectancy Paul says, “For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ"after we go through the real Tribulation? It doesn’t say that in my Bible. Nowhere does it say the church is going through the Great Tribulation, my friend.

Paul’s joyful expectancy makes it very clear that he was looking for Christ’s return, not for the Great Tribulation.

Philippians 3:21

“Our vile body” might be better translated “body of humiliation” or “body of corruption.” It means that He shall change our earthly body. This body that we have is an earthly body, subject to all kinds of limitations. It is adapted to this earth. We are not naturally equipped to go up into space. Our bodies are earthly bodies. “That it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.” These bodies are corruptible bodies. One of these days you and I will move out of these bodies. We will leave them because they are corruptible. They are going to be changedI’d like to trade mine in right now"fashioned like unto his glorious body.” It will be a body like the one the Lord Jesus had after His resurrection. It will be a glorified body. Paul speaks of it in his letter to the Corinthians: “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump …” (1Co_15:51-52). The point is that it will be suddenwhen the trumpet shall sound. While I am dealing with misinterpretations of this passage, let me say that some folk assume that one of the angels spoken of in the Book of Revelation is to blow this trumpet. However, the one blowing the trumpet is not indicated here. The Book of Revelation deals with Israel. In the Old Testament we read that Israel was moved on the wilderness march by the blowing of two silver trumpets. Israel is accustomed to trumpets; we are not. Perhaps you are remembering that the “last trump” is mentioned in connection with the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God …” (1Th_4:16).

Notice it is the trump of God. Whoever turned it over to Gabriel and said Gabriel will blow his horn? I question if Gabriel even owns a horn. It is the Lord who will descend with the voice of an archangel and the trump of God. Both speak of the dignity and the majesty of that shout of His. His voice will be penetrating and awe-inspiring.

Listen to the way John describes the voice of the glorified Christ: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet” (Rev_1:10). And when he turned to see who was speaking, he saw the glorified Christ. It was His voice that John heard. There are no trumpets connected with the church. Today Christ’s word to us is this: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Rev_3:20). It is His invitation to the evening mealthe last call for dinner. It is an invitation to come to Him before the night of the Great Tribulation falls. When the door is opened, there will go from this earth a group of people who have been put on the launching pad of faithand they won’t go through the Great Tribulation Period. May I say to you that those who expect the church to go through the Tribulation have, in my judgment, the flimsiest theory that is abroad, yet there are many intelligent men who hold this view. However, I find that these men spend more time with philosophy and psychology and history and related subjects than they do with the study of the Word of God. “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.” This is exactly the same thought that John had: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1Jn_3:2). Christ hasn’t appeared yet, but when He appears, we shall be like Him. Notice the high hope, the expectancy and excitement, the great anticipation of Christ’s return. (There is not the slightest suggestion that either Paul or John expected to first go through the Great Tribulation Period.) Paul had a hope for the future. What is your hope for the future? The Great Tribulation Period? My friend, if that is your prospect, you are about as hopeless as the man who has no hope! Taking a trip recently to the Hawaiian Islands, instead of flying the direct route, we came in from the north. The reason the pilot gave us was that there was a storm front on the southern route, and he skirted it, although it made us about thirty minutes late. I appreciated the fact that he went around the storm. It used to be that a pilot would say, “There is a storm front ahead of us, and we are going to have turbulence for the next thirty minutes.” I didn’t look forward to thatit was no blessed hope for me! But it surely is nice to have him say we are taking another route so we will miss the storm. And the Lord says to the church, “We’re going to miss the storm, the Great Tribulation.” My friend, you can twist it around to suit your own theory, but that is what He says. “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” That was Paul’s hope for the future, and it is our hope.