True Believers vs. Enemies of the Cross: Unveiling Paul’s Teachings in Philippians 3

How can you tell if someone is a true believer or merely an enemy of the cross? Join us as we unpack the profound teachings of Paul in Philippians chapter three, exploring the vital theme of unity among true Christians. We delve into Paul's call for believers to emulate the examples set by him and the apostles, striving to live lives that align with the gospel. We also confront the poignant warnings about those who masquerade as Christians but, in truth, are enemies of the cross, seeking to lead genuine followers astray. 

This episode sheds light on the various ways false teachings manifest, from questioning the necessity of church attendance to distorting the true meaning of baptism and salvation. We discuss the significance of recognizing these misleading doctrines within different denominations and stress the importance of maintaining a sanctified life devoted to God. By discerning the true spirit within oneself, listeners are guided to reject false teachings and uphold the purity of the gospel. 

Furthermore, we delve into the crucial distinction between the inward and outward call of faith, emphasizing that true salvation is borne from an inward call leading to repentance and unwavering faith in Christ. We scrutinize the motivations of those who seek worldly recognition through preaching, contrasting them with the genuine call to glorify God. The episode underscores the importance of living a sanctified Christian life, focusing on heavenly matters, and persevering in faith amidst the ongoing battle against sin and wickedness. Tune in to grasp the eternal consequences of rejecting Christ and understand the urgency of evangelism in our fleeting lives.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Christians. Paul was a major proponent of unity amongst believers and he continually made his case that we should operate in unity. Now, that unity does not necessarily mean that we will not have that, we will not disagree on specifics, but it does talk about the fact that, in a spiritual fashion, that we are to be in agreement when it comes to the things of Christ. Now, philippians, chapter three, he says in verse 17,. He says brethren, join in following my example, and he says to note those who so walk as you have us for a pattern, us being the apostles. And then he says in verse 18, for many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you, even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose God is their belly and whose glory is in their shame, who set their mind on earthly things. Now Paul is talking about people who are Christians. He is talking about people who are Christians, christians in name only, and he's encouraging those true believers to follow after the example and the pattern set forth by him and the other apostles. So he says, brethren, join in me in following my example and note those who so walk as you have us for a pattern. In other words, we are to look to those who walk truthfully, who walk circumspectly, those who walk consistently with and in accord with the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, consistent with the gospel Jesus Christ, consistent With the gospels mandate. But he says also that many walk, many walk, of whom I've told you On many occasions and now I'll tell you, even with tears, I tell you with tears, that they, they are enemies of the cross of Christ, now Christians. When he talks about these who are enemies of the cross of Christ, he is talking about those who profess to be Christians, who profess to be Christians, who profess to be walking consistently with the word of God. But he says that these people are enemies of the cross of Christ. They are enemies the cross of Christ, they are enemies. Paul has told them on several occasions about these people and no doubt he told them how to recognize them. He talks about how to recognize them, recognize them, which means that Paul made it a point to communicate to the true followers, those who followed after his teaching and those who followed him after his example as a Christian, and those who followed after the other apostles who did the same. But here he is telling the people that he has to remind them again, in tears, about these other folks who profess to be Christians and who are not, but they are enemies of the cross of Christ, enemies of the cross of Christ. It's not just that he says they are enemies of Christ, but he also states and makes a point to say that they are enemies of his cross, enemies of the cross of Christ. So let me tell you what I glean from this and let me share this with you, and hopefully it provides some edification for you, as it has done for me.

Speaker 1: 5:51

It is one thing to be an enemy of Christ, and no doubt in the body of Christ, outwardly, the outward body of Christ, there are many people who are enemies of Christ, but it is a step too far, it is a bridge too far when you have become an enemy of the cross of Christ. It may seem like I'm splitting hairs to a certain degree, but bear with me because I'm not, and here's what I mean. It is one thing to despise Christ while pretending to be his followers, but it is another thing to be an enemy of his cross, because when you are an enemy of his cross, you have an issue with his work. You have an issue with the quality and the efficacy of his work, his office, what he did, what going to the cross accomplished for sinners. It is one thing to be an enemy of Christ, knowing all that he has done, but many people take it to an extreme.

Speaker 1: 7:13

Believers, people who tell you they are believers and yet they are enemies of Christ and enemy of his cross and therefore your enemy. But Paul called them out. Paul called them out and it is important for Paul to have justifiable grounds, to have justifiable reasons to call them out as enemies of the cross of Christ. These people deny salvation. They deny that the work of Christ had any merit to granting salvation to people. The enemies of cross are those who make you afraid and make you question the truths of the gospel. They try to sway you and tell you that you're going too far.

Speaker 1: 8:23

You don't have to go so far. You don't have to go to church two, three times a week. You don't have to go to church twice on Sunday. You don't have to give to the ministry. You don't have to turn the cheek to the neighbor that Christ told us we are supposed to love all of our neighbors. When he said, love thy neighbor, this was not an option. It was a command to love thy neighbor, and Christ gave no conditions. He gave no conditions whereby it is okay to love that neighbor if they do this and if they do that. He simply gave the command To love thy neighbor as thyself. Love your neighbor as yourself, and Christ gave no qualifications Other than that person being alive for you to love them and to love them as yourself.

Speaker 1: 9:33

But there are many people amongst us who call themselves Christians, who are enemies of the cross of Christ. There are many people who walk amongst us who claim to be Christians, who claim to love the Lord, and yet Paul tells them that they are enemies of the cross of Christ. Why are they enemies? Because they deny fundamental truths, christ. Why are they enemies? Because they deny fundamental truths. They are the kind of people that like to tell you that you are going too far. As I said earlier, you're going too far in this Christian religion. They will tell you I'm a Christian too, but you don't have to go to these extremes. You're taking it to the next level.

Speaker 1: 10:31

God doesn't require us to live like this. They will tell you that God expects you to enjoy all these other things that you, in your conscience, choose not to enjoy and maybe you would enjoy it if you did it, and maybe they know you used to enjoy it and maybe you have to step away from things because of what they do to you, that things that it might not do for these other people. Everybody's temperament, everybody's disposition, everybody's demeanor when it comes to those particular sins and things that they indulge in is different for everyone. Certain people should never go to the beach. Certain people should never be alone around young kids. Certain people should never be alone around young kids. Certain people should never be around alcohol at all. Some people should never be, should never have a television in their home.

Speaker 1: 11:41

You have to know where you stand with Christ. You have to know your own soul. You have to know that he died on the cross and rose so that you could live a godly life, a sanctified godly life, a life set apart unto God and Christians. I'm going to tell you there are going to be many people whose whole job, their whole vocation will be to discourage you from obedience to God. They will tell you that they are Christian. They will tell you that they're Christian, even though they believe that certain things in the Bible just cannot be true, but they will tell you they're Christian. They will tell you that if you are not baptized, for example, you are not going to be saved. They will tell you that if you believe in the sovereignty of God, this is not Christian, this is heretical teaching. They will tell you you're not chosen by God and they will strike fear in your heart and make you, and try to make you believe that your salvation is only the result of your own intellect and reason and rationale. But we believers know different. We know different. Different. We know different.

Speaker 1: 13:32

You can know when a person is telling you something that is not true in the word of God there's something that will trouble you in your spirit and you know something is wrong. And when I say spirit or in the Bible talks about in your spirit or in your mind or in your soul. Sometimes we refer to this, these things in the worldly way, as gut. The world refers to these things as gut, but in us it's the spirit of god moving us one way or the other. But you will know, for example, you have these charismatic and pentecostal churches I talk about this all the time and a lot of these churches will tell you that the only way for you to know that you have been baptized by the holy spirit is that you start speaking in tongues, for example. For those of you who hear me talk about this often, bear with me for a little bit.

Speaker 1: 14:27

But what I'm saying is this you have people that will tell you that you need to do this in order to be saved. You need to have this second work that needs to take place in order for you to be a Christian. They will tell you that you can say this prayer and say that Christ has saved you. You can say that you have repented from your sins and you desire to live a godly life, but then they will tell you that you need To have a baptism of the Holy Spirit and that they refer to as speaking in tongues. And yet all the people who attend these churches they claim to be Christian. They claim to be Christian. I'll give you another example. You go to a Catholic church and they teach that you must baptize your infant baby and that when you baptize your infant baby, that that child is saved. They are going to be saved by God. From that baptism, that child can grow up and be two times the child of the devil that anybody could be, and people will still be telling that person that because they were baptized, they're okay, they're going to be saved, because they had that water baptism, that sprinkling of water on the baby's forehead.

Speaker 1: 16:10

There are churches that will tell you that if you don't give enough money to the church or if you're not giving adequately, as they see it, then you're not living by faith. In fact, they will even tell you you don't have faith. They will tell you the reason you don't have a more significant degree of wealth in your life is because you're not giving to them. These are all lies. These are people who are enemies of the cross, and they're enemies of the cross because they put roadblocks and encumbrances in front of you to trip you up so that you have to look at other reasons and other means to feel, to feel saved other than putting trust by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ at Calvary. You cannot add to what Christ did If you want to know an enemy of the cross, if you want to know who is an enemy of the cross, it is anyone who puts anything between you and having the benefits of that cross. If somebody tells you that anything more is required for salvation other than to look to Jesus Christ in faith. Salvation, other than to look to Jesus Christ in faith. Anything other than that for salvation that somebody throws on you, it is a lie and they are an enemy of the cross.

Speaker 1: 17:59

Anyone and everyone is always saying but, but this, but this. Yes, that is. All you need is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. But then there's always a but. That conjunction is always there. It's always there. You will have people who call themselves Christians that will tell you that not only is worship is, not only is worshiping God on Sunday a sin, but they will tell you that worshiping God on Sunday is the mark of the beast and that you're going to go to hell if you worship God on Sunday. There are Christian denominations that believe this. They are christian denominations that believe this.

Speaker 1: 18:50

Don't let anyone tell you like this person is intimating here right now. There is no one. This person says god asked us to keep his commandments. Yes, he did. We are to keep God's commandments. But newsflash no one can, no one has, no one will, no one other than the Lord Jesus Christ himself. It is an absolute impossibility to keep his commandments and I can assure you, everyone listening, none of you can keep God's commandments. No one, no one. And if you could, you are. If you believe anyone. If anyone tells you, christians, listen to this. If anyone tells you that you can keep God's commandments, if anyone tells you that they are an enemy of the cross, that is what an enemy of the cross sounds like. This is what they do. They tell you that you must keep God's commandments, believe in Jesus Christ, but you have to keep his commandments too.

Speaker 1: 20:04

Now, some of this comes from a faulty understanding of what it means to keep God's commandments. And yes, I'm for real. Here's what it means when it says to keep God's commandments, christians, this is what it means. Keeping in the Bible means to guard in the Bible means to guard. It means to hold something close to protect it. To keep means to guard. It means to secure. It means to hold that which is to be treasured. So now, what does it mean to keep God's commandments? It means to guard them, it means to esteem them. It means to tell people the importance of obedience to them. We are to be obedient to God's commands, for sure. But if anyone tells you that, keeping God's commands for sure. But if anyone tells you that keeping God's commandments is a prerequisite for salvation, then no one will be saved no one. So, just like right now, we have a friend who's talking about keeping God's commandments. This is an enemy of the cross of Christ.

Speaker 1: 21:29

Let me explain something about keeping commandments. Man fell in the garden, eve and Adam. They sinned against God, disobeyed God. They had one command, one that God gave them not to eat from that tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That was it. Now they disobeyed. They disobeyed and plunged the entire world into utter ruin, making it impossible for man to obey God, making it impossible for man to please God. So now, what did God do? What did God do? Excuse me one second, folks. We had a disruptor in here and I had to kick them out.

Speaker 1: 22:52

Now, when it comes to keeping God's law, no man can do it, we're told throughout scripture. It's an impossible, it's impossibility. And this is that which warranted Christ to come to earth, warranted Christ to come to earth. This is the reason why it took God Almighty himself to drape himself in human flesh, to come to earth and to do something special on the behalf of man. And what that was? It was to keep God's law. Christ came here, came to earth In order to do For us what we could not do For ourselves In terms of us being able to be reconciled to the Father. What did Christ do? He kept the law. He lived a sinless life. He obeyed His Father in all points. Because we could not do it.

Speaker 1: 24:08

So when someone tells you that you must keep the law in order to be saved, you know you are talking to an enemy of the cross, because they are telling you that there is something about the cross that wasn't quite sufficient enough to save you. So they're telling you that you have enough, you can believe in Christ, but you still need to obey the law for salvation. That person that tells you this type of thing is an enemy of the cross. We sin, even us believers. We continue to sin because we're dying daily to sin. And, like one person says, we sin every day, please repent every day. Can you imagine if Christians began to take repentance as serious as they do their sin, what the world would be like? What the world would be like If we mourned over our failures as much as we enjoyed doing these things? We would become more holy in our walk with God, more spiritual people.

Speaker 1: 25:34

But we are at war, christians and there are so many people, enemies of the cross, who stand in the way, who try to throw stumbling blocks in front of you so that you can trip your way all the way to heaven if you make it. Paul calls these people enemies of the cross of Christ and he says that their end is destruction. Their ends are is destruction and he says their God is their belly, and he says that their glory is in their shame and they set their mind on earthly things. Four things that Paul says. The first one he says that these enemies of the cross, he says their end is destruction, their end is destruction, they're going to be destroyed.

Speaker 1: 26:34

But what we need to understand and what we need to remind folks is this that that destruction that is coming for those who are enemies of the cross of Christ, their destruction is of eternal import. It is eternal. It is of eternal import. It is eternal. It is not annihilation, it is eternal destruction. There is no greater deed that a person can do than to profess to be a Christian and yet be an enemy of the cross of Christ at the same time, when they put stumbling blocks in front of you to try to trip you up, to try to make you afraid about your salvation, to make you afraid about your citizenship, which is in heaven, to make you question that your standing in Christ is not safe, that it is not secure. Anyone who threatens you that way is an enemy of the cross of Christ and their end is destruction. And because they profess to be Christians, it is a great destruction, indeed, it is eternal.

Speaker 1: 27:56

There's a guy on TikTok who's always, every day it seems like he's going live telling people the joys of knowing that hell is not real, that hell is not a place of torment, that hell is not a place that is eternal. I can't tell you how many people I see come up here and they make these posts trying to convince people that hell is not real, that it is not forever, that it is not a place of torment, that it is not forever, that it is not a place of torment. That's his name Roy G. I'm going to tell you what Roy G is. He is an enemy of the cross of Christ. He is an enemy of the cross of Christ whose end is destruction. He is going to be destroyed if he doesn't change that message, because it is a wicked message. And he believes he is christian. He believes he is sound. If you talk to him, you would be, or listen to him, you might even believe he's a christian. You might even believe he's a christian, but he tells people hell is not real.

Speaker 1: 29:13

Now, christians, I don't know about you. I don't know about you, but when I came to christ it was because of the stark reality that hit me when I was 18 years old, sitting in boot camp reading the bible for the first time, and I read the passage where Christ himself says not to fear him, who can destroy the body and do no more, but rather fear him, who can destroy both soul and body in hell. It was at that very moment, that very moment, after that very moment, after having so many people witness to me and try to tell me the joys of Christ and how much he loved me and wants to save me, I didn't buy any of that stuff. But when I read that for the first time, the words of Christ where he says that he can destroy both body and soul in hell, I became a believer immediately. There was no altar calls. There was no baptisms of miraculous baptisms of the Holy Spirit. There was none of these things. It was simply hearing the word of God.

Speaker 1: 30:34

With that internal call, there's an outward call. There's an outward call that many people hear, but there's an inward call that brings salvation. There's an inward call that leads you to repentance. There's an inward call that leads you to repentance. There's an inward call that causes you to look to Christ In faith and to never want to look back. It is an inward call that breaks the soul of a person and brings them to tears. There's an inward call that makes you want to obey your master and king, the creator of the universe. There's an inward call that makes you humble yourself in the sight of the Lord. And you will live the rest of your days With people Trying to tell you that there's something else you need to do other than to believe.

Speaker 1: 31:37

There are many people who will tell you that there's something else to add to that faith that Christ has given you in order for you to be saved. There are liars out there who will tell you that hell is not real, that it is not a place of torment, that it is not eternal. Some will even tell you that you can go to hell and get out later. All of these people that tell you these things, they are what the scripture calls spots in your feasts. They're rocks in your picnic. They cause you to stumble. They try to instill fear because they don't want you to have something that they do not have. Most of them, more often than not, they want what you have. They want that. They don't understand the peace you have. They don't understand the grace that you have and that you revel in. They don't understand how you pray so often and why you go to church so often. They don't understand why you pray so often and why you go to church so often. They don't understand why you won't go to the super bowl because you rather go to church.

Speaker 1: 33:04

These people, their end is destruction. When you get in the way, when you get in the way, when you get in the way of God's people, if you get in their way of their path to heaven, this is something that does not please our Lord. When this is done to his people, it does not make him happy. Next, it says about these people who are enemies of the cross of Christ. It says their God is their belly. Their God is their belly. What does this mean? It means that their appetite is their God. And notice he says their God is their belly. He says that is their God. A God is that which you worship. A God that is not the Lord, god of heaven, that is not the Lord Jehovah, any God that is not Jehovah. Any God that is not Christ. Any God that is not the Holy Spirit is an idol.

Speaker 1: 34:18

And what Paul says here is that these people who are professing Christians but in reality they are enemies of the cross of Christ, their God is their bellies. They worship their appetites. Their appetite must be satisfied and appeased. Above all, they don't worship Christ. They come to Christ for profit, and this is not just the Joel Osteens of the world and the Crevlo Dollars of the world and all of these preachers who are making merchandise of the church. These people, they have an appetite that, first of all, is insatiable. It cannot be full, it cannot be satisfied, they are not pleased. So they continue to devour, to eat, to consume, to chase, and they have this inordinate ambition in life for everything to consume upon themselves. Their belly or their appetite is their God.

Speaker 1: 35:37

Listen, even on social media we see this. We see this. Everybody on social media is on social media for one thing, to make money, to gain followers, to get likes and to have numbers. They want fame. They want money. They want followers. They want fame. They want worldly. They want followers. They want fame. They want worldly recognition. All these people.

Speaker 1: 36:25

I've had people tell me that I'm doing this for the money. There is nobody in their right mind who really wants to make money in life. Who's going to do it by preaching the gospel. And what I mean by the gospel? I mean the whole gospel, the whole truth. You're not going to get rich if you're going to preach the gospel. You're not going to have a million followers if you're going to be preaching the gospel the truth, I am never going to have. You know, hundreds of thousands of people listening to me talk about these simple things. When you tell people that they're going to die in their sins, that they're going to perish in an eternity of hell, you think that's a compelling place for people to be giving their ears to. It's not. I will never make a dime off of this. Never, never, never.

Speaker 1: 37:37

I know there are Christians out there, people who claim to be Christians that have tens of thousands of followers, and the ones that I have seen in social media. When I see people that have these hundreds of thousands of followers. I go and look at their content and then I find out why they have so many people Because they don't tell them anything that makes them tremble in their souls. They want to entertain you. They want to entertain you, they want to make you laugh, they want to do skits, they want to play their rap music for you. People want to entertain and see.

Speaker 1: 38:28

And I'm not saying that some of these things are wrong. I'm not saying this, so don't get me wrong. What I am saying is, if that is your mode of operation, then I would say to walk cautiously, because we've been given a simple mandate to preach the truth in season and out of season. We are here to glorify God and you have too many individuals who call themselves Christians, who want to spend most of their time glorifying themselves, many people. So what we should do as believers is to make sure that in all of our spiritual endeavors, in terms of our calling that we are, to make sure that we are seeking His glory and His alone, not our own, not our own.

Speaker 1: 39:44

And you're going to have a good idea, because people don't want to hear the truth of the gospel. They don't want to hear about a bloody savior who rose again on the third day. They don't want to hear about that. There are people who don't even like you to mention the name Jesus Christ at all. They don't want to hear it. Christ at all, they don't want to hear it.

Speaker 1: 40:15

There are people that are trying to make it offensive to say that Christ is king. Christ is king, lord of lords and king of kings. That's who he is, that's who I worship, that's who I adore, that's who I worship, that's who I adore, that's whose glory I, for the rest of my breathing days, will honor him with every breath that comes out of this mouth. And I don't care. You can't ridicule me away from being faithful to him. You can't mock or scorn me from being faithful to him. And I know that there's many, many, many believers that feel the exact same way I do. Many of you feel the exact same way.

Speaker 1: 41:02

But, christians, we are being tested today. We are being tested today. We are being tested today, and you have no shortage of people who want nothing more in this life than to silence Christians, because they don't like the message of the gospel permeating the air, they don't like what it does to their conscience, they don't like what it does to their souls. They don't like having that reverberating gospel message tearing apart their insides, making them look at sin or dealing with sin, and having to hear this sound in their ears where they're being told you're a sinner, you are a sinner, you're going to die in your sins if you don't repent. Christ died to save sinners. You are one. Come to Christ in faith. See, they don't want to hear this. They don't want to hear this. But yet you have Christians, christians who are the true enemies of the cross and I'm talking about people who claim to be Christians, who profess to be Christian.

Speaker 1: 42:30

I'm not talking about real Christians. I'm not talking about real Christians. I'm not talking about real Christians. Real Christians love to be around God's people. Real Christians love to pray and want to pray more. Real Christians love going to church. Real Christians love seeing the word of God evangelized. Real Christians love to share the gospel anytime they have a chance. Real Christians see no other God other than Christ and they know he's God. This is what real Christians know. Real Christians know that we were saved from a dreadful hell. That's what we're saved from. And you got people saying there is no hell. Hell is not eternal, it's not fire. It's not whatever. Whatever hell is, whatever it is, whatever it is, the way it is described in the Bible doesn't come close to the reality of it. Where the worm dies not, where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of the teeth. Darkness, the company of demons and the followers of Satan. All these things. God set this up To put those who oppose him and that's where they will be eternally. Why eternally? Because the God that you offended is the eternal God. You offend the eternal God. The consequences are eternal. These enemies of the cross. Their end is destruction and their God is their belly. I told you, their belly is their appetites, their appetites. It is insatiable. They want what they want. They want stuff. They want their homes. They want their jewelry. They want their homes, they want their jewelry. They want their surgeries. They want their clothes, their Armani and their Chanel and all this stuff. They want their cars. They want notoriety. They want people saying their name out. They want people responding to them on social media and telling them that they're great. Their God is their belly. They worship their appetites. Idolatry is alive and well. Idolatry is alive and well, and man's greatest God Is his appetite. There is nothing he won't do To satisfy his appetite, which cannot be satisfied. It is insatiable. Man's appetite is his God and he wants nothing to get in the way of his appetite, especially Christ, especially Christ. The third thing that Paul says about these people who are enemies of Christ, he says that their glory is in their shame. Their glory is in their shame. Now here's the thing when he says that their glory is in their shame, they don't necessarily recognize it as a shame, but Paul is telling the believers, you and I, that they take glory the enemies of the cross. They take glory in their shame. In other words, the thing that they ought to be ashamed of is that which they take glory in, their shame. In other words, the thing that they ought to be ashamed of is that which they take glory in. For example, a rapper. Rappers today. They rap about the most heinous, egregious and evil things. Rap music as a genre is no more or less wicked than any other genre of music. But what makes rap music so bad is the content that lies within it, what their messages are. And their messages are always, in most cases, generally always about satisfying the belly, satisfying appetites, whether it be through seducing women, whether it be to glorifying the killing of other people. We're not talking about Christian rap. I'm not talking about Christian rap. What I'm talking about should be obvious, because rap music is. You know, you have people.

Speaker 1: 48:23

Somebody comes out with a diss track and then people gather around all over social media analyzing the lyrics, glorifying these people, glorifying these words, glorifying these messages. And I guarantee you that at least 80% of the people who listen to that garbage will probably tell you that they're a Christian. Many of them will tell you that they're a Christian. But they're singing about killing people, seducing people, stealing from people, going to the parties and clubs and drinking and getting high and overindulging into every excess imaginable. And then they sit back and analyze them and then they start wondering who's the GOAT? Who's the best rapper? Who can say the worst stuff? Who can say the filthiest stuff and say it the fastest? This is where we are today. This is where we are today. This is where we are.

Speaker 1: 49:42

People worship these people. Drake, kendrick Lamar, eminem, j Cole, all these people. These people are treated like they're gods. They're treated like gods. Jay-z, beyonce, all these people. They get treated like gods and they sing and rap about trash and then want to turn around and thank God for something and you're drinking all this up. People, christians, you need to stop taking it all in. It's not just you, it's me, it's all of us. We get consumed with all this stuff For the last I don't know three or four years, all you hear about in terms of sports is who's the best basketball player Jordan, kobe Bryant, whoever you know, people are fascinated with their gods. Now, the big story today is Caitlin Clark. You know, caitlin Clark. Everybody's all in a dispute over this thing. They worship these people. They worship Beyonce. They worship Kendrick Lamar. They worship Donald Trump. They worship Beyonce. They worship Kendrick Lamar. They worship Donald Trump. They worship Biden. They worship politics. They worship race. They worship money. They worship anything but Christ.

Speaker 1: 51:33

And yet, if you go ask, talk to many of these people, or talk or talk to any of these people, I'm telling you 80 percent of them Are going to tell you that they're Christians, and yet they are enemies of the cross of Christ, enemies. The fourth thing that he says about these enemies so first, he says their end is destruction. Their God is their belly or their appetite. Whose glory is in their shame? Let me add some more to this the glory is in their shame. Let me add some more to this. The glory is in their shame. They do shameful things, they do wicked things and they parade it around and they celebrate it, and Christians also celebrate with them.

Speaker 1: 52:40

You have to ask yourself this, and this is something that I think that Christians should do, but I know that all of us are led differently than others, but this is something that should be a good practice for every single person who claims to be a Christian. Whatever it is you say or do or approve of, make sure it is not something that you would do if Christ were right there with you. Do nothing, say nothing that you would not do around our Lord and Savior. Around our Lord and Savior. This is the essence of what it is to Walk a sanctified life, if you Can. I don't want to say pretend, because it's not. Pretend is real, but what I'm saying is this Pretend as though Christ, we're standing there with you in the flesh at every given moment, and that should modify how you respond. If there's something you're doing that you don't want somebody to see, then you are acting as though God himself does not see. Anything that you do that you do not want anyone to see, you should not do, because God sees so, taking glory, glorifying things that ought to be shameful. This is happening Within, this is happening Within the body of Christ. This is happening Within the body of Christ and it should Make you fearful, because he is returning.

Speaker 1: 55:02

The last thing that Paul says about these people so not only do they, not only is there indestruction, not only is God their belly and not only do they glory in their shame, he also says that they set their mind on earthly things. They set their mind on earthly things. Simply put, they're not looking heavenward, they're not looking for the life that follows this short life that we have. They look on earthly things, they strive. They strive to have things in this life. They strive for comforts in this life. They strive for comforts in this life. They strive for the gratification of the flesh in this life. They seek to be pleased in every aspect of this earthly life. They want to be comfortable, they want to have what they want. They are consumed with the political landscape. They're not concerned about heaven, the heavenly city, they're concerned about this earthly one.

Speaker 1: 56:30

So what matters to them is who wins the next election, who wins the basketball championships, who wins the Super Bowl? Who wins the World Cup? When do interest rates come down? You know, all these things people are so consumed with and, believe me, if you're not a Christian, that's your world. Enjoy it, choke on it. But for Christians, this is not our existences here. This is not what we're supposed to be pining over. What happens here. The only thing that makes us interested in what's going on down here is seeing other people saved, seeing others come to understand what God has made us to see.

Speaker 1: 57:28

This is what our life is about. Our life is about serving God, glorifying him and making and raising his awareness and glory in the eyes of those who don't know him yet, those who are waiting without knowing that they have been chosen by God before the foundation of the world. But we are being sent To arouse these folks and to wake them out of this stupor of sin that they remain in and we don't know who they are. So we preach to everyone. We preach to everyone. They set their minds on earthly things, but then Paul says for our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. I love this Because he says that our citizenship is in heaven. It might not seem like a big deal when he says it is presently, in present tense is in heaven right now. We are citizens of heaven. Now we're citizens now.

Speaker 1: 59:21

There are those who like to dispute over what the kingdom of god is. Jesus said that the way to enter into the kingdom of god is by being born again from above, and so when you come to faith, when you are regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God and you repented from your sins and you turn to Christ in faith, you have been translated from this world into the kingdom of God's dear son. And once you are translated by that new birth into the kingdom of Christ, you are now a citizen of heaven at that moment. So everyone who is a Christian, who is a believer, now is a citizen of heaven at this very moment, which means that we are members of his kingdom right now. Right now, unless you want to say that there are more kingdoms than one, but there's only one. There's only one kingdom, and that's the one that Christ set up when he came to earth.

Speaker 1: 1:00:31

And those who want to press into that kingdom, all they need to do is to look to Christ and be saved. If you are listening and you don't know Christ, you have not considered how short your life is and as soon you will shut your eyes on this earth and you will wake up being in torment, the very second you shut your eyes on this earth You're going to enter through death's dark doorway and you're going to find yourself in the eternal flames. For no reason. For no reason, people are always trying to tell me I'm trying to promote fear. There is no fear if you believe. I'm telling you what to do to not have to fear. I'm not promoting fear. I'm not trying to fear you into believing, because all you have to do is turn to Christ and be saved, and you have nothing to worry about.

Speaker 1: 1:01:43

Christians that are always trying to share the gospel with you want to see you saved. They want you to see them when they go to heaven and go to glory. Like I do, they want you to see them when they go to heaven and go to glory. Like I do, I hope to see in heaven. I'm looking forward to going to heaven and seeing my father and my godparents and the other godly people who were instrumental in my life.

Speaker 1: 1:02:14

But, christians, we have to remain faithful and diligent and we have to endure until the end, and what we have to make sure that we do not allow is for those who profess to be Christians to stand in our way and to lob stones in front of us to cause us to stumble. All you need, and all you will ever need, is Christ. Never take your eyes off of him when somebody comes and tries to distract you and tell you to look here, to look over there, to look here, look at the law, look at the law, look at baptism, look at going to church on Sunday, look at this, look at that. None of these things, none of these things, save you. The only thing that saves you is not a thing, it's a hymn and it's the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only one, the King of kings, lord of lords, the Lord of glory. Nothing should stand between us and Him. Trust Him with all of your being, with every fiber of your being, and let no one distract you, no matter how hard your life may get, no matter how hard your life may get, no matter how hard your life may get, god has never said I'm going to make you rich when you start believing in me. He said he would make you rich in faith and he said that there's an inheritance that he has already obtained for you that is reserved for you in heaven if you will stay faithful here.

Speaker 1: 1:04:03

I can remember as far back as being five years old. I'm 60 this year. It seemed like a blur. It seemed like it was yesterday. I was a kid running around the streets. It's a short time. It's a short time to have to be faithful and to inherit an eternity of bliss and peace and joy with all of God's people, forever, with the absolute absence of sin, forever.

Speaker 1: 1:04:44

It is an unimaginable pursuit. I cannot begin to understand what that kind of a life is going to be like, begin to understand what that kind of a life is going to be like. This life here we know it to be just saturated with sin. People are infused with vitriol over everything. But can you imagine going to glory when Christ returns and having all of that gone? I can't fathom a world with no sin, no sin in it, no tendency to sin, no evil concupiscence in the heart of a man. There's nothing that can be aroused, there's no root, there's no seed of sin in anyone when we go to heaven.

Speaker 1: 1:05:41

It gives me a headache trying to imagine, because our minds are so restricted and limited, that we can't begin to understand what awaits us, and knowing that it will be for an eternity, and there is no limit to the joy, that we will have no limit. You won't be bored. There will be no boredom. There will be no starvation. There'll be no poverty All gone. There'll be no one who backstabs you. There'll be no one who's trying to climb over you. There'll be no one trying to hold you down. There'll be no one trying to hold you down. There'll be no one trying to steal from you or take from you. There'll be no one insulting you.

Speaker 1: 1:06:45

The test of life will be over, but now we wrestle with principalities and powers that sometimes we don't even understand. We fight against sin. We fight against wickedness. Somebody asked what about hunger? Today, there's going to be hunger. That's a fact. People are going to die, people are going to die of starvation, people are going to do all manner of things, but the reason that all this is happening is because sin entered the world. Sin entered the world. Sin entered the world and the reality is. Even when you consider all of the death that takes place on this earth, you have to understand something God is the one who takes away your life and God is the one who gave it. It takes away your life, and God is the one who gave it. So when people turn to Christ, god is the one who gives them life.