Enemies of the Cross

Enemies of the Cross 2022 04 10

Philippians 3:14 – 21

A strange thing has happened in the western world in a generation.  What used to be called sin is now called normal, and indeed is even called good.  Those who take a Biblical stand on what God calls sin are called intolerant, unloving, judgmental and even extremists.  Many who even claim to be evangelical Christians say that the Bible is open to interpretation.  They claim that God loves everybody, that Jesus died for everybody and then made the leap in logic, that therefore, God is going to take everybody to heaven when they die. Just recently, someone posted in the chat window on our live feed that to say that anyone goes to hell is unscriptural and satanic! No matter how well-meaning those who believe these things may be, they are enemies of the cross, misinterpreting the Bible and denying the very reason Christ had to shed his blood and die. They are making Jesus Christ, our great God and Saviour to be a fool who died for nothing.

Philippians 3:14 – 21

These are the very words of God, inspired, or God breathed, through the apostle Paul.  “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”  2 Timothy 3:16. This is not the opinion of a man, as some today try to say.  This is the very WORD of God, given by God through a man.  Unless we are settled on that fact, we are in trouble and are standing on sinking sand, unsure of absolutely everything.  Those who teach that Paul was anything but an Apostle called by our Lord Jesus Christ are enemies of the cross.  Those who teach that God’s standards are any less than what he has revealed to us in his word are enemies of the cross.  Nowhere in the Bible are we told to practice tolerance nor to lessen the seriousness of sin.  Sin is SO serious that God’s own Son had to shed his blood and die in our place to pay the price for us. This is God’s great gift to all who will accept it. “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. God was serious when he told us “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Romans 3:23 and “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23.

I A High Calling

  1. We have a high calling.
    1. We are called by almighty God, Himself, in Christ Jesus, to press toward the mark.
    2. That mark is the standard that God has set for us, which is perfection. Jesus said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48. That is the high calling of God in Christ Jesus that is meant in this passage.  Press toward perfection.  Anything less is not God’s standard, and any who teach anything less are enemies of the cross.  Perfection only comes by Christ and only when we finally see him face to face.  We will not see Christ if we reject him in this life.

II  Lay Aside Error

  1. Therefore, because we have such a high calling in Christ, lay aside any error that holds you back. The biggest error is the error of carelessness, of thinking that God’s standards don’t matter.  Those who teach such things are enemies of the cross.
    1. If you’re truly serious about following our Lord Jesus Christ, you will submit to Him, you will go to the Word of God, you will believe God’s Word and you will be corrected of any errors you have picked up along the way.
    2. The only reason a Christian will continue to walk in error is because he or she is not submitted to the authority of God’s word. (It is very difficult to submit to that authority when you are uncertain about what God’s word is.  Get settled on the fact that God preserved His word and we have it, today. It was never lost. One of the devil’s most effective strategies has been to convince people that God did not preserve His word as He said He would and therefore that we can’t really be sure what it is.  It is out of that LIE that has come the idea that God’s word is open to interpretation!)

III  Follow a Good Example

  1. Follow the example of Paul and the Apostles and those throughout the centuries who followed their example.
    1. “Mark them,” we are instructed. In other words, read your Bible!  Find out how the Apostles walked and follow their good example.  See how they lived, and live like that, yourself.  Look around you.  Mark those who are obedient to the word of God, as the Apostles were and follow them.

IV Don’t Follow a Bad Example

  1. Don’t follow those who don’t walk according to the scriptures and the example of the Apostles. They are enemies of the cross!
    1. Those, today, who teach things that are clearly contrary to the scriptures are false prophets and enemies of the cross.
    2. Note that anyone who teaches something that contradicts the plain word of God is a false prophet. Don’t listen to him!  Don’t watch him on TV!  Don’t listen to him on the radio!  Don’t read his books!
    3. So many times, I have heard something along the line of “I know so and so might be wrong on many things, but the other day I was listening to him, and he said…” Don’t listen to him!  “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.  As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”  Galatians 1:8,9. The second you hear ANYBODY preach tolerance for sin of any kind, universal salvation, or salvation by anything but the pure free grace of God through Jesus Christ, stop listening to that person.
      1. Salvation is a gift from our Creator, but like any other gift, it must be received!
    4. Unlike those who often try to silence Biblical Christianity by calling us intolerant, unloving, and judgmental, Paul did not attempt to cover up or excuse guilt because it was in the church, or to apologize for the defects and errors of those who professed to be Christians. Those who do are not friends of Jesus, but enemies of the cross.

V  Weep for our Enemies

  1. The enemies of the cross are enemies of all true Christians. Weep for our enemies! They are in a desperate place.  Many think they are saved!  They have been deceived by false prophets and teachers, who themselves have been deceived.
    1. Do not be deceived by false teachers and their followers but pray for them with weeping, because they are lost and often even worse off than those who know they’re lost. They are enemies of the cross, whose end is destruction, focused on earthly things, glorying in the shameful things that God hates.

VI  Citizens of Heaven

  1. In verse 20, we read that our conversation is in heaven. Our language has devolved over the years to a much simpler level, and we’re so much the poorer for it!  The meaning is that we are citizens of heaven or the heavenly world, even now while we walk this earth.
    1. We are under the laws of heaven, not of this earthly world, but this should make us better citizens of this world. The standards of heaven are higher than the standards of this world, because we are looking to heaven for our Saviour, our Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come for us.
    2. We now live in these vile bodies that wear out, these bodies corrupted and tempted by sin, or as Paul wrote in Romans 7:24, “the body of this death,” but Jesus is coming back, “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”

Conclusion

  1. We have a high calling. It is the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.  The standards of this world are not high enough!  They miss the mark.  They are sin because anything that misses the standards of our Creator is sinful.  It’s not high enough, and any who teaches anything lower than God’s high standard are enemies of the cross.  Don’t follow them.  Don’t settle for anything less than God’s standard, which is perfection.  It is only when we realize how impossible it is for us to achieve God’s standard on our own that we realize we need Jesus Christ! And when we finally put our faith in Jesus Christ to save us, we suddenly want to reach for that high standard. It takes effort!  “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”  That’s work.  Are we saved by works?  No!  But if we really are saved, the evidence of salvation IS our works.  “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”  James 1:22. Press toward the mark, brethren!  Mark those who went before us, the Apostles and those who follow their example, and follow them.  Turn away from the enemies of the cross.  Weep for them!  But press toward that mark, which is the HIGH calling of God in Christ Jesus.