The Unchained Life! Philippians 3:17-19

"The Unchained Life!"

Captivated by Christ: An expository sermon series on Paul's Letter to the Church in Philippi (message #24)

Pastor Jerry Ingalls

October 3, 2010

Our Scripture lesson today for a message entitled, “The Unchained Life” is found in Philippians 3:17-19 (NIV), “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. ¹⁸For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.” [Prayer]

At the time of this letter, Paul was in Rome, in chains for defending the gospel of Jesus Christ! Paul is in chains for Christ because he was captivated by the love of God through Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. And after his conversion when Paul became a follower of Jesus Christ, he spent the next 30 years of life studying the Scriptures and learning the teachings of Jesus Christ, teaching and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, and planting and leading churches.

And his reward was to be in chains for the God who unchained him! Friends, we are not promised a care-free comfortable life when we follow Jesus Christ, we are promised a life of freedom that comes with hardship and suffering!

Paul may have been in chains, but he was unchained! Brothers and sisters in Christ, you can be chained and live the unchained life and you can be unchained and live the chained life. This is not about your circumstances, we will suffer, but will we suffer for the right things and for the right reasons?

Let’s examine what the unchained life looks like. First, let’s look at how we live the unchained life. WE LIVE AN UNCHAINED LIFE WHEN WE FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF THOSE WHO ARE FOLLOWING JESUS CHRIST!

Paul states in Philippians 3:17,”Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.”

Paul is not saying that his life is the perfect life. Paul is on a journey of following the example of Jesus Christ so he is saying what he said in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”

Paul is not only pointing us to himself, but also to the other faithful disciples of Jesus Christ who are living the right lifestyle (“the pattern we gave you”) of a disciple who are following the example of the master.

Paul is teaching us that we need to have active mentorship models in the church. Men and women who can show younger or newer Christ-followers how to live the life of freedom as disciples of Jesus Christ. We need one another, we need accountability, to live the unchained life! Together!

Living the unchained life is only possible, first through the power of God to save us. But, next we must live out this freedom through the Holy Spirit with active models of grace walking alongside of us. We need these models to lead us, and then, overtime, we become the models to others.

We read these truths in 1 Thessalonians 1:4-7, where Paul states, “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.”

Living the unchained life requires intentional community, but this community must be empowered by God! That leads us to the second point: WE LIVE AN UNCHAINED LIFE THROUGH THE POWER OF GOD!

We can only live the victorious life when we acknowledge the power of the cross of Jesus Christ to forgive all sins and reconcile sinners to God. Our only hope for the unchained life is in God and His power! The cross is the key to unchain us eternally, and the same resurrection power that brought Jesus Christ back from the dead is the key to unchaining us from lifestyle choices daily that make us enemies of the cross.

Paul states in Philippians 3:18-19, “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, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.”

Paul has been establishing who the models are that we should partner with in intentional relationship to know Christ more and the power of His resurrection. These are people who demonstrate fruit of the power of God in their lives. In this verse, Paul says that there are some in the midst of the church who claim to follow Jesus Christ, but their lives demonstrate them to be enemies of the Cross. It would be all too convenient for us to see these people as outsiders attacking the church. But that does not fit the overall context of what Paul is saying. These people appear to be members of the larger fellowship who are using their freedom in Christ to do unholy things, all in the name of grace. They are deceiving the saints from the right lifestyle as disciples.

In Romans 16:17-18, Paul warns, “I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.”

Do you see the fruit of the power of God in someone’s life? This is the primary evidence of their conversion. Follow him/her! Apple trees bear apples!

To demonstrate this, let’s listen to a dramatic testimony of a life that became unchained through the power of God! Cheryl C. shares testimony. [Prayer]

From Paul’s teaching in verse 19, there are 4 contrasts I want to highlight in order to emphasize the unchained life. These are CONTRASTS BETWEEN THOSE WHO LIVE AS DISCIPLES OF CHRIST AND THOSE WHO LIVE AS ENEMIES OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST:

First, the disciple of Jesus Christ has a different DESTINY than the enemy of the cross: Eternal Life versus Destruction! ____

Paul states, “Their destiny is destruction…” They may claim to know Christ and be a part of Christian fellowship, but they have not yet been born again through the Holy Spirit to eternal life. It would be impossible for them to have a destiny of destruction as believers because listen to the security that a person who lives an unchained life has: we were once enemies of God when Jesus Christ reconciled us (Romans 5:10), but through the grace of God in Jesus Christ who died for our sins upon the cross, through faith we are no longer enemies, but friends of God, and our names are written in the book of life—we are forever in the secure hand of God!

The Bible declares in Revelation 20:14-15, “Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

The second death is Hell; a place where no light, no good exists because it is where sin and evil are banished from the presence of God for eternity; whether angelic or human, they are eternally separated from fellowship with God so that the recreation of Eden can be completed.

In your sermon notes, you will see that there is a blank line next to each of these four contrasts. After I complete each point, I am going to give you a moment to pray and think about your life. On a scale of 1 to 10, with one being I am living my life as an enemy of the cross of Christ and ten being I am living my life as a disciple of Jesus Christ; please rate yourself on your lifestyle.

Go ahead and take a moment now. I live in the reality that my destiny is either destruction (1) or eternal life (10). [Jeopardy theme music].

Second, the disciple of Jesus Christ has a different OBJECT OF WORSHIP than the enemy of the cross: God versus Flesh! ____

Paul states, “…their god is their stomach...” This is not an unfamiliar topic, Paul earlier in this chapter in verse 3 stated, “For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3). For a disciple of Jesus Christ the object of worship is Jesus Christ. God is the only one we worship and we are to put no confidence in the flesh, but an enemy of the cross worships themselves because they worship the appetites of their flesh, symbolized by the stomach.

An unchained life is free because the object of worship never changes. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And this God we worship is love, compassion, mercy, perfect community! Unlike the captivity we have when we worship the ever changing reality that is you and me!

Are you chained by your emotions? By your lusts? By your appetites? By your comforts? Does the hormones and chemistry of this weak human body determine your worship or does the God who created your body deserve the adoration and praise? Who or what shapes your days and choices?

Go ahead and take a moment now and rate yourself from 1 to 10: I live in such a way that shows my object of worship is either me, my flesh, and my feelings (1) or God (10). On a scale of 1 to 10, where are you in the unchained life? [Jeopardy theme music].

Third, the disciple of Jesus Christ has a different MORAL AUTHORITY than the enemy of the cross: Bible versus World! ____

Paul states, “…and their glory is in their shame….” This is a MAJOR issue in modern Christianity, especially in the western church were our cultural decline (I mean progress) has led to a disintegration of absolute truth and an anchoring for a firm moral code. But, interestingly enough, this is the same decline they were seeing in Rome in Paul’s time.

The Prince of Prophets, Isaiah, stated in Isaiah 5:20, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”

An enemy of the cross will find their moral authority in the cultural elite, the mass opinion, or even worse their own justifications to appease their guilt to continue living in such a way to gratify their appetites. Lies upon lies! Deceptions to protect self-deceptions! Because if your god is your stomach, then you will build your moral system around that which you hold in highest esteem.

But a disciple of Jesus Christ can build their moral foundation on God’s revealed Word, the Holy Bible, which is5 an unshakable moral foundation that will never waver. It does not shift with public opinion or the latest fad. It is ancient of days and rock solid! This is what an unchained life is built on!

Go ahead and take a moment now and rate yourself from 1 to 10: My lifestyle choices demonstrate that my moral authority is either the world and whatever I want it to be to justify my actions (1) or God’s Holy Word, the Bible (10). On a scale of 1 to 10, where are you in the unchained life? [Jeopardy theme music].

Fourth, the disciple of Jesus Christ has a different PERSPECTIVE than the enemy of the cross: Heaven versus Earth! ____

Paul states, “Their mind is on earthly things.” At its deepest level, Paul is speaking about whether or not you have a regenerated mind that can comprehend the wisdom of God. Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” For those who reject the cross, it is because their minds are on earthly things, they cannot find wisdom in the things of God, they are foolish in the eyes of the world!

The unchained life is one that can drink from the wells of God’s wisdom and know that all we can gain from this world is loss, and if we are willing to lose this life we will gain eternal life. The unchained life weathers the storms of this life when we have an eternal focus, knowing that this life is not all that we have to look forward to!

Go ahead and take a moment now and rate yourself from 1 to 10: My life choices reflect that my perspective on life is either on earthly things (1) or on heavenly things (10). [Jeopardy theme music].

And now for the prize; it is time for Final Jeopardy! WHICH GROUP DO YOU BELONG TO? _________

The Bible challenges us in Deuteronomy 30:19-20a to make a choice, “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.”

This same reality is being presented to you today. I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life! In the space provided for you I want you to write the group you belong to and you only have 2 choices: “Enemy of the Cross” or “Friend of Christ.” [play Jeopardy theme music].

Jesus Christ bore your sin on the cross so that today you would choose Him and in choosing Him you are choosing life!

May your lifestyle reflect your choice! And may you find someone who can model this life for you. I encourage you to find an accountability partner. Start this week by getting together to share your responses to today’s teaching and walk through the discussion questions on the back of your sermon outline.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. How does a Christ-follower remain chained to the old life of sin when he or she has been given the new life of freedom through faith in Jesus Christ? How do you get unchained? How do you help your brother or sister in Christ get unchained? Are you in an accountability relationship that meets weekly? The answer lies within the question!

2. For further study please read Colossians 3:1-17, 23-24. Then discuss with an accountability partner how these passages help you understand what Paul meant when he said, “Their mind is on earthly things”. Using Scripture to interpret Scripture, was Paul teaching that going about the practical affairs of our everyday lives made us enemies of the cross? What things should we avoid doing that put is in opposition to God? In the other matters of our everyday lives, how should we go about doing them?

3. Whose example are you following? Would your neighbors agree with your answer by their observation of your life?