Look Up to Heaven - Philippians 3:1-21

If you would ask the next ten people you meet to explain their greatest desire, the chances are you would get ten different answers. I ask you now; what is your greatest desire? Mine is—I desire heaven over hell; want to be in God’s will; want to do right and want to treat others as I want to be treated. Nothing else really matters if we are not prepared to meet Jesus. If heaven is really that important, then why do we not think more about it; and more often than we do?

Kids like to play and have fun and they think about it every well day of their life. Heaven should be more important to adults than play is to children. Someone has said that “We should not be so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good,” and that is a truism. However, we do well when we prepare for heaven; and we do ‘good’ when we continually remind our neighbors and ourselves that Heaven is a real place and that we only have a few days, full of trouble, to prepare to make the trip. Think of heaven as your destination and make sure to use good driving habits while you are traveling.

I have enjoyed living in Heber Springs for the past thirty six years, and my drive to church almost every Sunday morning is one of the highlights. Many times I have mentioned my observations to the men in our class. Sights range from the river’s reflecting shadows and the running, riffling water; from the blooming of the Bradford Pear and Tulip trees, the majesty of Sugar Loaf Mountain, the color combinations on Round Mountain, herds of deer crossing the highway, to the beauty of new life in spring and the glorious colors of fall. My faith has always soared with the clouds as I always associate this beauty with a loving, caring God who created everything that is; and then I think of heaven that will surpass all that I have seen. As we study this lesson will you please—Look Up To Heaven!

Another good title for this lesson would be “Serve Him Here and Now” because that is the evidence needed to prove that we are looking forward to heaven. In fact, the title of the lesson, Look Up To Heaven is found in the last two verses where we read that our citizenship is in heaven. The first part of the chapter tells us that we are just sojourners here and that every day should be lived in preparation to occupy heaven when our day arrives.

Verse one starts with the word ‘finally’ which does not mean that Paul is concluding and ready to leave or close his letter, but in Greek, it means ‘something remaining’ and like Paul Harvey on TV, Paul is prepared to “Tell you the rest of the story.” His first admonishment was a warning that along our way we are to watch out for the dogs [men who do evil], and he was referring to the Judaizers that argued that one must keep the law first, in order to become a Christian. This also refers to the false teachers of today who teach that there are other things more important than accepting Christ—being born again. The reference to people being as ‘dogs’ is heavy, and indicates Paul’s disgust for false teachers. In his day dogs ran in packs, killing and eating as scavengers therefore this is a vivid, but true, picture of anyone that adheres to a life and teaching that will ultimately lead their piers to spiritual death. Who are the Judaizers today? They are those who say that people must add something else to simple faith. No person should add anything to Christ’s offer of salvation by grace through faith.

Paul continued by telling the church that he had ‘been there and done that.’ He told them that he was an Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, and was circumcised eight days after his birth. He was a zealous Pharisee that persecuted the church and legalistically he was “Faultless.” He said, “If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more.” At another time he told us that he was ‘the greatest of sinners.’ This should get the attention of everyone in the Philippians church because the tribe of Benjamin was a heritage greatly esteemed among the Jews. The first king of Israel, King Saul, was from the tribe of Benjamin, and Judah and Israel were the only two tribes that returned to Israel after the exile as recorded in [Ezra 4:1]. The Pharisees were overly devout; keeping their own strenuous rules as well as the Mosaic Law. Paul fully understood what Jews believed.

In verse seven Paul spoke of his profits and was referring to his Jewish credentials, credits and successes before his conversion; and now as a Christian he counts those profits as a loss because they were against Christ. Paul is in no way bragging about what he had done but is simply showing them that he had more to brag about than they as Judaizers—but that it was the wrong game. Today, we must be very careful not to rely on the great things we have done in the past and not let our works stand in the way of a true relationship with Christ. All that Paul had done was considered as loss when compared with the greatness of knowing Christ personally. A personal relationship with Christ is the most valuable asset anyone can have.

Read again verses 3 through 9 and you will find that no amount of “keeping the law, self improvement, self discipline, or any other religious effort,” can make us right with Christ. If one is righteous he must be in the ‘right standing’ with the will of God’ because righteousness comes only from God. If you want to know how one becomes righteous read 2 Corinthians 5: 21.

Paul gave up everything precious to him—his heritage, family, friends and freedom and is now in prison; he sacrificed all just to know the resurrection power of Christ. We too have this knowledge, but we should remember that it is never free and may cost us in a sacrificial way. How willing are you to sacrifice where there is a need? Will you give up a few hours of work or play time each week to study, pray and attend worship services? From your limited budget, are you willing to share in the cost of spreading the gospel? Here is the hard question—if we loose our freedom of worship in America, will you sacrifice your life and refuse to deny Jesus Christ?

Do you have a desire to know Christ and the power of His resurrection? To be a Christian means to be like Christ. Now ask yourself do I really want to fellowship with him and share in his suffering on the cross? Are you willing to die for your belief, for your goal—to be like him in his death? Paul did. See verse ten and you will find that this is the only way to attain to the resurrection from the dead. This was Paul’s goal.

In verse twelve you will find that your goal can be a costly one, and you may not have fully reached the optimum level at this time but you should be able to identify it and be willing to press on and forward. Paul admitted that even he had not fully attained but that he was trying each day. He said, “But one thing I do; Forgetting the past and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal—to win the prize.” That prize was to be in heaven with Jesus Christ. The NCAA tournament was two weeks ago, I watched several games. Very few players hit more than 70% of their free throws. I was a referee for over fifteen years, and have studied the game and can tell you with confidence that there are two main reasons why a player misses free throws. They fail to practice a known and proven routine but the number one reason is that they take their eye off of the goal. You can not watch the other players and see your goal, in either the ball game or the game of life. Please remember that if you are allowing some hypocrite to stand between you and Christ—the hypocrite is closer to Him than you.

Paul had a reason for forgetting the things he had done. Remember he was present and viewed Stephen as he fell in martyrdom; he actually participated by holding the coats of those that threw the stones, he was Saul at the time [see Acts 7: 57 and 58]. All of us have some bad memories, but we gain strength by knowing that God forgave Paul—and few if any have a past so blighted as his. Never dwell on your past but realize that you are forgiven and then move on to live a life of faith and obedience. Yes, both faith and obedience. Faith is an act of the spirit; obedience is an act of the flesh—it is works. James says that spiritual faith is of no avail without physical works, and that means that you must work for God to prove that you believe in Him.

I am now closing with a sad statement and a wonderful promise. “For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction…” [Verse 18]. You are physically a citizen of your state and your town at address USA. But if you are a born again believer you are a spiritual citizen of Heaven beyond. Your name has already been written on the Lambs Book of Life and your taxes [good works] are being recorded to your account. Verse 20 says, “But our citizenship is in heaven.” And we can eagerly await his return to transform our bodies into a glorious body like His. His word is Truth.