May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. 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. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (Philippians 3:17-21)

In Christ's name and to his glory, dear friends: As we near the end of our church year the readings draw our attention to the End times. Today we hear of the great rights and privileges we have as the current citizens of heaven who are away from our homeland, yet fully citizens of heaven and who eagerly wait for the day that we may be home with Jesus.

There have always been advantages from being citizens of a country, especially so when the country itself is great and blessed. The Apostle Paul appreciated and made the most of the advantages he had as a citizen of Rome. On several occasions he asked that his rights be honored especially his right to a fair trial and no punishment until proven guilty. (Acts 22:25; 21:25) We too have wonderful advantages, rights, and privileges from being citizens of this country. I could name some, but maybe it's more of an impact if I mention how people risk life and limb to get from their country to ours. Where else do we hear of people overloading boats and sneaking into a country any way they can? People want to be here because there are great advantages to being here and being a citizen of our country.

As great as the advantages, rights and privileges are of being a citizen of the USA, we also know that here we have no enduring city. (Hebrews 13:14) Good earthly governments come and go. Good citizens come and go. We, body and soul, need more than what is ours as citizens of the USA. For that reason, blessed as we are as Americans, we still see our greatest advantage, rights and privileges in being citizens of heaven. Let's look at some of those rights and privileges; today the Apostle Paul speaks of them in Philippians.

Expect the support and guidance of fellow citizens. Citizens are never alone. We have each other. Paul encourages his first readers and us, his present day readers, to make the most of the blessing of being one of many citizens of heaven. We're not alone. Rather, God has taken us into his commonwealth of heaven, and we have fellow citizens who support and guide us. The Apostle says: Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. Silas, Barnabas and Luke were Paul's fellow missionaries. Titus, Timothy, Aquila, Pricilla, and Apollos were others that learned from Paul and then became examples themselves. These are the ones that we are to take note of. Not only were Paul and all these prominent Christians examples, they also supported, encouraged, counseled, and guided the Christians in words and actions. "Together, stay near us", Paul was saying. That's one of the privileges you enjoy as a citizen of heaven.

The Christian is never alone. Sometimes he feels that way-like Elijah who once said: I'm the only believer. He wasn't, and God reminded him that there were 1000's of fellow believers (1 Kings 19:10f). We're not alone either. Even though people like Abraham and Sara, Paul and the other Apostles, and the nameless people who loved and served Jesus over the centuries absent from us in heaven, still they guide us with their example written on the pages of Scripture. Then too, we have our present day examples-Christian parents and grandparents, pastors, teachers, and Christian friends who guide by example without saying a word and who counsel us in what is godly and right.

We aren't alone and God doesn't want us alone. If and when we separate ourselves from here, from worship, from Bible discussion, and Sunday school, then we are not taking advantage of our rights and privileges as God's heavenly citizens. We only hurt ourselves. And be aware, dear friends, that we are the fellow citizens who support and guide and counsel others. Let us be regular in gathering together, both for the blessings we receive as well as the blessings we give in doing so. In WW-II the jungle soldiers fighting the Japanese adopted a saying from the Chinese that is familiar to us. Their motto was gong-ho. The words mean, "Separate-together." The idea was that little squads of soldiers were separate from other little squads by the jungle but these little groups had each other. They would fight for and support each other like there was no one else in the entire world. Today we use the word to mean attacking a project with single-mindedness. Christians are gong-ho. We're separate from the world, little flocks away from headquarters. But we are together. Let's seek each other's company and support and strengthen each other on the way toward heaven.

Expect Champion (Jesus) and his coworkers to keep our boarders secure. A country's boarders must be secure or her citizens will loose the rights and privileges they enjoy. Driven by hatred and jealousy, the enemy is never happy if citizens are at peace and blessed. Among Paul's counsel to us is to make sure that we don't let down our guard and loose our precious rights and privileges and citizens of heaven. 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. These enemies are enemies of Christ first and then enemies of any who cling to Christ. These hate Christ's cross. They see his sacrifice as completely unnecessary for they feel that man is basically good and can please God with a little effort. Full of selfishness, they are angry that God would help others. Their god is their stomach, and their mind is on earthly things. They see the present and the things of this world as the best. God is no good if he cannot give earthly prosperity-that's how they think. Living for this world and unconcerned about sin and forgiveness in Christ crucified, their future is hell. Watch out for them. One of our privileges as heavenly citizens is to have our Champion Jesus ever guarding our souls the way any good king protects his boarders.

Here in America we have a new appreciation these days for the fact that the obvious enemies are, in a way, easier to defend against. It's the subtle, hidden, secret enemy that often causes the most danger and heartache. So it is in our heavenly citizenship and the enemies that would rob us of our rights and privileges. No one is going to convince you that Christ is foolishness. The dangerous enemies are subtler. This is how the secret enemies work-Christ, yes, but you need more...You cannot really know that you are God's child unless you do this or that...it's not what you believe but how you live... This all sounds so good to us. How will we be safe from the subtle enemy?

Our boarders have always been held by Christ's might. He must sanctify us-keep us separate, in the pure and simple Gospel where we are safe against the assaults of Satan. To Christ and his word again and again! There we will find the Savior who will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever (2 Timothy 4:18).

Expect glorious things to come. I guess countries are always trying to improve the quality of their citizen's lives-better economy and standard of living. But neither politicians nor government here under the sun could match what lies ahead for the citizens of heaven. The Apostle says: But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. As citizens of heaven we have the right and privilege of a glorious eternity, with a glorious body with our glorious Savior in heaven.

Our lowly bodies long for this. Our existence is lowly. Youth turns into old age with its pain, sickness, and old age sets in. Soon it's over. Why? Because we are lowly inside. We are sinners born of sin and its wages are seen in our lives. But being citizens of heaven entitles you, by God's grace and the Savior's working, a glorious future, kept in heaven for you. The thought lifts us and carries us through our momentary troubles.

As we travel about the world, we expect to be treated as US citizens, even when away from home. How much more, away from our true homeland, ought we to take courage in the benefits that are ours since we are citizens of heaven? And one day soon our Savior will come to take us home.    Amen.