{"id":2538,"date":"2020-03-01T11:05:54","date_gmt":"2020-03-01T18:05:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/?p=2538"},"modified":"2020-03-31T18:03:36","modified_gmt":"2020-04-01T01:03:36","slug":"philippians-315-16-enemies-of-the-cross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/2020\/03\/01\/philippians-315-16-enemies-of-the-cross\/","title":{"rendered":"Philippians 3:15-16 Enemies of the Cross"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/sermons\/sermon-20200301.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>18For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, 19whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><br>Introduction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><br>Last week we talked about how we should <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">walk<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>We talked last week about how Paul urges the Philippians to <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">observe<\/span> those who walk according to the pattern that they\u2019d seen in Paul\u2019s life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>Well in this week\u2019s verses, we\u2019re going to look at the ones who <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">do not<\/span> walk according to this pattern<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><br>For as I have often told you before<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><br>This isn\u2019t a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">new<\/span> teaching that Paul is bringing up to the Philippians. Paul has brought this up before. In fact, Paul says that he has <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">often<\/span> spoken to the Philippians about this issue before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><br>And now declare even with tears<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><br>This word klaion means to <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">weep<\/span> openly, to mourn for, to lament, to sob or wail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>This should be the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">attitude<\/span> that we have when we think and speak of the errors and faults and sin in the lives of fellow Christians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>It is <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">not<\/span> to gleefully say to ourselves\u2014look they\u2019re not perfect either, that makes me feel better!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>When we think about <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">sin<\/span>, especially in the church, the true reaction is tears because:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>1 they are in danger of <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">destroying<\/span> their own souls;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>2 they are destined to certain <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">disappointment<\/span> when they stand before God;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>3 because they do harm to the cause of Christ and give cause to the &#8220;enemies of the Lord to speak <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">reproachfully<\/span>.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><br>Many walk<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><br>Paul needs to warn them that the walk of many people, even in the church, was a walk that it would not be <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">safe<\/span> for them to imitate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><br>Enemies of the cross of Christ<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><br>Notice that the verse says enemies of the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">cross<\/span> of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>This does not mean that the people that Paul is talking about were avowed enemies of the cross, or that they denied that the Lord Jesus died on the cross to make an atonement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>An immoral life is enmity to the cross of Christ; because Jesus died to make us <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">holy<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>They are enemies of the cross of Christ precisely <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">because<\/span> of, and to the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">extent<\/span> which, they are unwilling to die to their sin!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><br>Their end is destruction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><br>This describes the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">end<\/span> of the road of those who choose not to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. It is the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">mature<\/span> tree that bears fruit, not the sapling. It is the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">good<\/span> tree that brings forth good fruit. It is the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">good<\/span> ground that brings forth a crop, useful to those around it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><br>Their god is their belly<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>What this means is that the main thing in life is fulfilling their <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">appetites<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><br>Their glory is in their shame<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><br>Things that these people should be ashamed of, according to God\u2019s word are the very things that they <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">glory<\/span> in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>They define themselves by something that God says is <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">wrong<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>If you can say anything except \u201cI am a Christian\u201d as the chief defining factor of your life, then <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">THAT THING<\/span> is your god, and you\u2019re living to fulfill that appetite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><br>Their minds are set on earthly things<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><br>To have your mind set means to be <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">determined<\/span> to follow a course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>To have your mind set on earthly things means to be determined to follow the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">course<\/span> of the earth, which is <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">destruction<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><br>Follow Jesus<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><br>The true way is, to admit that there are those in the church who do not honor their religion, and to warn others against following their <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">example<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>It shows more <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">love<\/span> to point someone to the true path, and to help them follow Jesus more closely and risk offending them occasionally, than to <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">wink<\/span> at sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>We express the truth in <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">love<\/span>, without glossing over sin, because God does not gloss over sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>The <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">counterfeit<\/span> coin does not make the real coin <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">less<\/span> genuine or true or valuable, in fact serves to show the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">value<\/span> of a genuine coin.<br>\u2003<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>18For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, 19whose end is destruction, whose god&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-services"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2416,"url":"http:\/\/mvcog.org\/wp\/2019\/08\/04\/philippians-19-11-pauls-petition-for-the-philippians\/","url_meta":{"origin":2538,"position":0},"title":"Philippians 1:9-11: Paul&#8217;s Petition for the Philippians","author":"Robert","date":"August 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Introduction We talked about how \u201c_____________ continually, ____________ unceasingly, and giving __________ in all circumstances are three things that go together. 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