Pathway to Victory

Speaker 1

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Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's word through the most effective media available, like this podcast.

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Now here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Speaker 2

Hi, this is Robert Jeffress, and I'm.

Speaker 3

Glad to study God's Word with you every day.

Speaker 2

This Bible teaching program on today's edition of Pathway to Victory.

Speaker 3

So which is it, God? Make up your mind. Am I supposed to be focused on this world or the next world? The Bible says this world is not our home, but it is our residence. Jesus said we are to live in the world, but we're not to live of the world.

Speaker 1

Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress. The Bible teaches that while we may be in the world, we're not of it. So how should we live now in light of our temporary citizenship here on earth?

Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress turns to the book of Philippians, chapter three, for wisdom from the Apostle Paul on how to live while caught between two worlds.

Now here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message: Dr. Jeffress.

Speaker 2

Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. And happy birthday to my oldest daughter, Julia. We are proud of you.

Do you ever feel that as a Christian, you have a foot in two worlds? By that, I mean you've got one foot in the present and another in the future. One foot on earth and the other in heaven. Well, that's a common feeling for most Christians because our daily existence is difficult and painful. Heaven, however, is the future goal that gives us hope.

Today, as we continue our study of Paul's letter to the Philippians, we'll be learning how to manage our dual citizenship. This topic strikes close to home because every day presents challenges of its own. It's possible that even right now, you're facing something that's stolen your capacity to feel pleasure. Maybe it's a heartbreak with one of your children, or perhaps you're struggling with health issues.

Well, in my book called Outrageous Joy, I explain how you can rise above your daily challenges and find the peace and contentment you long for. Paul is an expert on this topic. His letter was written from a prison cell, and it's the basis for my book available right now. I'd like to send you a hardbound copy when you send a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory.

I'll say more about my book and other helpful resources later on, but right now let's dig into Paul's letter and find out how to properly live with two passports. Turn with me in your Bible to Philippians, chapter three, beginning with verse 17. I titled today's message Between Two Worlds.

Speaker 3

Becoming a Christian is really quite easy. Living as a Christian is quite difficult. Have you discovered that to be true? Part of the difficulty in living as a Christian is admittedly our fault. Our lack of discipline, our thirst for success, our pursuit of pleasure—all of those things war against our relationship with God. But some of the difficulty in living the Christian life is God's fault. Well, wait. Before you cast me as a heretic, let me explain what I mean. I mean, let's face it, God has given us a very difficult assignment. He's told us that we're to live in two worlds at the same time. It's always hard to live in two places at the same time.

God has said on one hand that we're to be residents of this world. We're to give our attention to some very definite things in this world. For example, we're to give attention to our work. Did you know your work, your job, matters to God? It's not a necessary evil. God is interested in your work. He says in Colossians 3:23, "Whatever you do, do your work heartily. Do it enthusiastically as to the Lord, for it is the Lord God whom you serve." God also says we're to give attention. We're to focus on our families. Husbands, you're to love your wives. Wives, submit to your husbands. Parents, love and discipline your children. That takes time. That takes focus. That takes energy. God says we're to give attention to money, to our finances. In Proverbs 6:6-9, the writer says, "Go to the ant, O sluggard, and observe her ways and be wise. Which, having no chief officer or ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest." That is, God says, learn from the ant. Make sure that you're setting aside some of your current income for future need. We've got to give attention to that.

The Word of God says, and if that's not enough, the Bible says we're even to give attention to our recreational pursuits. Did you know that's in the Bible? Ecclesiastes 9:11. Solomon says, "Go then, eat your bread with gladness and drink your wine with joy. Or, if you're a Southern Baptist, your Diet Coke with joy. For God has already approved your work." That is, God says we're to do more than just endure this world he's created. We're to enjoy it. And yet the Bible says while we're busy fulfilling our responsibilities in this world, we're also to be focusing on the next world. Colossians 3:2 says, "Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on the earth." Or 1 John 2:15, "If anybody loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Do not love the world or the things of the world." So which is it, God? Make up your mind. Am I supposed to be focused on this world or the next world? The Bible says this world is not our home, but it is our residence. Jesus said we are to live in the world, but we're not to live of the world. How do you pull that off?

In the passage we're going to look at today, Paul gives us three indispensable secrets for living between two worlds. If you have your Bibles, turn to Philippians chapter three. We're in a verse-by-verse study of Paul's letter to the Philippians. And remember, in Philippians chapter three, Paul is talking about two extremes that will rob you of joy in your relationship with God. The first extreme is the extreme we've looked at for the last several weeks, and that's the extreme of legalism. Legalism is trying to earn your relationship with God through good works. The legalist is one who believes that either his works or his works combined with a little bit of God's grace will merit his relationship with God.

Now here's the problem with legalism. How do you know when you've done enough? How do you know when you've done enough to earn God's approval in your life? And that's why the legalist never has any joy. But there's an opposite extreme of legalism that we need to avoid as well, and that is hedonism. Hedonism is simply living your life to please yourself. There are many people out there who are professing to be Christians, and yet because they have their "get out of hell free" card, they are now living however they choose to live. In fact, if you look at these Christians or these professing Christians, their attitudes, their actions, their words are absolutely no different than a non-believer. A professing Christian who lives like a non-Christian has no hope of heaven whatsoever.

Now, I want to make this clear. Good works are not a requirement for salvation, but they are the result of salvation. As James said, "Faith without works is a dead, non-existent faith." In Philippians chapter three, Paul is going to make it very clear that a genuine Christian is somebody who lives obediently in this world while at the same time focused on the next world. How do you do that? Notice, first of all, Paul says, to live successfully in two worlds, to live obediently in this world, and to be focused on the next world, we need to follow a worthy example.

Look at verse 17. Paul says, "Brethren, join in following my example." Now that sounds a little bit prideful when you first read it. Philippians, if you want to know how to live the Christian life, just look at me. This word "example" comes from the Greek word that we get our English word "mimic." You know what a mimic does? A mimic impersonates another person. He tries to act like another person. Paul said, if you want to live successfully as a Christian, mimic me. Follow my example. He said something similar in 1 Corinthians 11:1. He said, "Be imitators of me, even as I'm an imitator of Christ."

Now, before you write Paul off as being prideful, remember a couple of things. First of all, in this letter, he's already told us in chapter two that we need to follow Jesus Christ, "have this attitude anew, which was in Christ Jesus." And second, in verse 12, he confessed he's not there yet in his own life. Verse 12 says, "Not that I've already obtained it, or I've already become perfect." By the way, beware of any leader who claims to have arrived in his spiritual life. Paul said, "I'm not there yet." But third, notice also Paul says, "Just don't follow me." Verse 17 says, "Also observe those who walk according to the pattern which you have in us." Don't just look at me to know how to live in two worlds successfully. Look at other people. Look at Timothy, look at Epaphroditus. Look at other Christians you know as well.

In fact, I want you to underline that word in verse 17, "pattern," "who walk according to the pattern you have in us." It's the Greek word "tupos." It's a word that originally referred to the striking of a metal coin. In Paul's day, you would take a sheet of metal. If you wanted to make a coin, you would take it and strike it with an image, a pattern of the emperor or whatever other image was being stamped on that coin. And Paul's saying, in the same way, if you want to learn how to live in this world while staying focused on heaven, what you need to follow are people who have patterned their lives after Christ, who have the image of Christ stamped upon them.

You see, ladies and gentlemen, Paul was a master teacher. And Paul understood that the way we learn best is not just through hearing, but it's through observing. You know, educational experts say that we tend to retain about 10% of what we hear, which is very discouraging for those of us who are preachers. But about 10% is about all anybody's going to remember. But we tend to retain 80% of what we see. And Paul says, if you are really going to learn how to live as a Christian, it's not just by hearing. That's very important. That's indispensable. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. But not only that, you need to follow an example. You need to have a mentor to follow after.

There was an article in the Harvard Business Review a few years ago entitled, "Everyone Who Makes It Has a Mentor." In this article, they interviewed 30 top business executives in our country. Every one of them had a mentor, somebody they learned their skill from firsthand. That article went on to say, of all the Nobel Prize Peace Prize winners, over 50% of them had been apprenticed by former Nobel Prize laureates. They had learned their expertise from somebody else. And that's true in the Christian world as well. The way we learn spiritually, the way we learn how to walk after Christ, is not a do-it-yourself course. We need to find mentors, people we can pattern our lives after, people we can mimic.

By the way, notice what he says in verse 17. There's not just one person who can do that for you. Again today, it's kind of become a cliché in the Christian world. Everybody needs a mentor. So everybody's going around looking for a mentor. "Would you be my mentor?" as if there's one person who can teach you everything you need to know. Paul said, no, it's not just one person. He said, "Look at those" (plural) "who walk according to the pattern you have in us." We all need a multiplicity of mentors, different people we can learn different aspects of the Christian life from.

You know, I praise God. I think about the mentors I have been fortunate to have in my life. I thank God for putting special men in my life. I think about at Dallas Seminary, thinking about Howard Hendricks, whom I met for the first time when I was in high school, and I sat under his teaching and learned a lot about what the spiritual life is all about. He was a mentor and continues to be for me. I think about Dr. Criswell, the great pastor of this church, who really taught me everything I know about pastoring. I learned from Dr. Criswell. If you don't like how I pastor, don't blame Dr. Criswell, okay? But I tried to learn things from him. I tried to learn about communication and writing through Chuck Swindoll. He was a great mentor. I'm grateful for these different men that I learned different aspects of the Christian life from.

In the same way, we all need a group of mentors. Let me ask you a question. For example, men today, when you think about what it means to be a Christian husband or a Christian father, is there an image of a particular person that comes to your mind? Somebody you would say, "Now that's the person I would like to be like." Or ladies, when you think about that Proverbs 31 woman, the godly wife, the godly mother, is there an image of a person you know that comes to mind who seems to be able to pull that off on a regular basis? When you think about evangelism, we're all called to share our faith. When you think about sharing your faith, is there somebody who comes to mind who regularly makes the most of every opportunity to share his or her faith with somebody? The Bible says we need to follow those examples.

And I want to encourage you. When you find somebody like that who is mimicking a quality you desire, get to know that person. Offer to buy their lunch one day, sit down, pick their brain, learn what you can from them. The fact is, the way we learn to live the Christian life is by following worthy examples. There is power in a living example. I love the story Tony Campolo tells about a guy named Joe who was saved in a Bowery mission. Joe had been a wino or perpetual drunk. But one day he gave his life to Jesus Christ, and his life changed overnight. Joe went up and down the streets of that city where he was living, witnessing, sharing his faith. He did everything he could to encourage those living in the mission. He was a perfect example of what it meant to be a Christ follower.

One day in the mission service, the pastor was preaching and he gave the invitation. Another drunk came down the aisle weeping uncontrollably. He was crying out, "Oh, God, help me be like Joe. I want to be like Joe. Help me to be like Joe." And the pastor said, "I think you're confused. You mean help me to be like Jesus?" And the drunk looked up and said, "I don't know anybody named Jesus, but is he anything like Joe?" See, we live in a world where a lot of people don't know Jesus, but they know you. They know you claim to be a Christ follower. People are learning from you, and in turn, we learn from other people how to walk after Christ. If we're going to pull this thing off of living in two worlds, we need to follow worthy examples.

But second, Paul says beginning in verse 18, we also need to forsake earthly extremes. Forsake earthly extremes. You see, one reason we need to find people to mimic is there are so many people living around us we don't want to imitate who aren't living for Christ. Look at verse 18. He says, "For many walk, of whom I often told you and now tell you even more weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ." He says, forsake these kinds of people who are enemies of the cross of Christ.

Now, to whom is Paul referring here? Who is it that are enemies of the cross? Some people would say, well, that's the Judaizers that Paul spends verses 1 to 14 talking about. Remember the Judaizers? They were people who didn't deny Jesus Christ. They didn't deny his death on the cross and the necessity of faith in him for salvation. They believed in the necessity of trusting in Christ. They just didn't believe that was sufficient. They believed it took faith in Christ and good works, faith in Christ and keeping the law—that was the ingredients for salvation.

And that's, by the way, the way you can tell a counterfeit religion. You know, counterfeit religions would not be so successful today. You know, if most religions, if these cult groups that we talk about, if they were to say, "Well, to join our faith what you need to do is sacrifice your child in the fireplace," they wouldn't have a big following, would they? Nobody's going to follow after that kind of religion. But the reason counterfeit religions are so successful is they very closely resemble the truth. They use the same lingo, they use the same terminology, but they change it just enough to result in people's eternal damnation. That's why Satan appears not as a messenger of darkness, but as a messenger of light.

And that's what the Judaizers were doing. They were saying, "It's faith in Christ. Oh, we believe in Jesus." Sound like some people you know today? "We believe in Christ. Yes, we're right with you, brother." And they change it just enough to assure their eternal separation from God. It's not faith in Christ and anything. It is faith in Christ alone that saves. These are the Judaizers. So perhaps that's who Paul is talking about. I don't think so. They are truly enemies of the cross, no doubt about it. But the description that's given about these personal enemies of the cross makes me believe it's not legalists he's talking about. It is hedonists.

It's those people who profess to be Christians but do not have a lifestyle that resembles it. And again, let me make this very clear. A person who claims to know Christ as Savior but has absolutely no fruit in his life at all, no fruit whatsoever, has adopted the values, the attitudes, the actions of this world. That person has no assurance of eternal life. Listen to what John said in 1 John 2:4-5. He says, "The one who says, 'I have come to know him' and does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps his word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him." What does this "by this" refer to? How do we know that we are in Christ? Is it that we walked down the aisle, shook the preacher's hand, filled out a card, and jumped in the Baptist church? Is that how we know that we are in Christ? No. He says in verse 4, the way you know you are in Christ is that you keep his commandments.

Good works are not the requirement for salvation, but they are the result of genuine salvation. And that's what Paul is saying in Philippians chapter three. He's saying, avoid the extreme of hedonism in your Christian life. And notice the four descriptions he gives of these people whom he labels enemies of the cross. First of all, he says they are professing Christians, verse 19, "whose end is destruction." That word "destruction" could be translated "perdition." By the way, here's a Bible quiz. Who in the New Testament was known as the Son of Perdition? Here's his nickname: Judas. Judas. How would you like to have that as a nickname? Son of perdition, Son of destruction. But that was Judas. I mean, Judas walked with Jesus for three years. He gave lip service to all of the right things, but in his heart, there had been no change. He was a professing believer but not a possessing believer. And Paul says this is one characteristic of the enemy of the cross. He professes to be a Christian.

Secondly, he is a slave to his own desires. Again, verse 19, "whose God is their appetite." A person who is completely focused on this world cannot break his physical desires. He is a slave to whatever his desires desire. And then number three, these people who are enemies of the cross, they are proud of their sin. Look at verse 19, "and whose glory is in their shame." Don't we see that today? People who boast about the things about which they ought to be ashamed. Think about Hollywood stars, you know, sports athletes who are always bragging about their sexual conquests or their immorality. Isaiah 5:20 talks about the day that will come when people will call good evil and will call evil good. We're living in that day right now, aren't we? And Paul says that's a symptom of an enemy of the cross.

But notice number four, they are completely focused on this life. They set their minds on earthly things. That's the chief characteristic of a counterfeit Christian. They are completely focused on the things of this world. What is the focus of your life right now? What do you spend your time, your energy pursuing—the things of this world or the things of the next world?

Speaker 2

Paul understood how to transform the most unenviable moments into places of peace and satisfaction. And there's much more insight I want to address in this wonderful passage in Philippians chapter three. So make it a point to join us again tomorrow.

And then I'm urging you to get in touch with us right away so that you can take advantage of the time-limited resources I've prepared for you. Each one is intentionally designed to help you take your next steps. You see, Pathway to Victory is far more than a daily radio program. Your learning doesn't need to stop here. Our ministry has expanded far beyond these daily visits, giving you ample opportunity to take your spiritual walk with God to the next level.

First, I've written a book called Outrageous Joy. It's a comprehensive study on the book of Philippians that you can apply to your life today. It'll encourage you to live boldly as a future citizen of heaven by becoming a humble servant of Christ in the here and now. And even when your enemies are taking shots at you and trying to bring you down, God has provided a way to experience joy. Ask for the hardbound edition of Outrageous Joy when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory.

Now, in addition to my book, I'm going to slip in a copy of our Scripture encouragement card as well. This is a handy reference tool that you can place in a prominent spot to remind you of Paul's message to the Philippians on finding joy, peace, strength, and hope.

Here's David to give you our contact information, and I'll look forward to hearing from you today.

Speaker 1

Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. A copy of *Outrageous Joy* is yours today when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. Request your copy of the book by calling 866-999-2965 or online. Go to ptv.org and when your gift is $75 or more, you'll receive not only the book *Outrageous Joy*, but also our current teaching series on audio and video discs. The series is called *Living Above Your Circumstances*.

Again, call 866-999-2965 or online go to ptv.org. You could write to us at P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. That's P.O. Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222. I'm David J. Mullins inviting you back next time when Dr. Jeffress concludes this message on living between two worlds. That's Thursday here on Pathway to Victory.

Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. Embark on the spiritual journey of a lifetime on the Pathway to Victory Journeys of Paul Mediterranean Cruise, May 5-16, 2025. Enjoy 11 days of fellowship, relaxation, and spiritual refreshment while sailing aboard a luxury cruise ship. You'll visit sought-after island destinations like Santorini, Mykonos, and Crete. To book your spot on the 2025 Journeys of Paul Mediterranean cruise, go to ptv.org.

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