This sermon was preached at Ascension Reformed Church in Moscow, Idaho on September 27, A.D. 2026. The video can be found here.
Philippians 3:15–4:1
15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
17 Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. 18 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things. 20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
1 Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved (NKJV).
Introduction
In our passage this morning, the Apostle Paul calls the Philippians, and you, to imitate his life and example, as well as others who are walking as he does. This call to imitation is prevalent in Paul’s letters, and it is something that, when we pause and think about it, we actually see play out in every area of life.
One of the most vivid examples of clear, instinctual imitation that I have seen came when our son began to play tee-ball and baseball. Leading up to his first “team” experience at 4, we started to watch a lot of Yankees games.*** apologies to Mariners fans. Often I’d come home from work, we’d watch a few innings together before dinner, and before I knew it he had the players memorized. And I remember when he got up to bat in their Saturday morning game, as a little 4-year-old, he walked up to the plate, pretended to adjust his invisible batting gloves, hit the bat on the ground twice, and pulled it back… ready.
Where did he learn that? He might’ve picked up a piece of it from me, but I can assure you I have never worn batting gloves. No, he naturally absorbed it through his desire to imitate and mimic the players he looked up to. He wants to be like them. Now, when it comes to children, the role that imitation plays in their growth and development is obvious. But as we will see in our passage this morning, this feature of life never goes away. Instead, it’s a matter of how we will wield it.
So let’s walk through our text and then consider the role of imitation in the Christian life more closely.
Summary of the Text
Having warned the Philippians of the Judaizers – those dogs, evil workers, and mutilators – and then sharing his own hope in Christ’s righteousness alone, the Apostle Paul now calls his readers to have the same “mind” as him, beginning in verse 15 of Chapter 3. This word “mind” should bring to your memory Philippians 2, where he exhorted them to be of one “mind,” and specifically to let the “mind” of Christ Jesus be in them – who in humility went low before being exalted.
It is interesting that Paul says those who are mature should think this way, but for those who think otherwise (the immature), he trusts that God will reveal this to them, and nevertheless, they should walk in accordance with what they have attained thus far (vv. 15–16). This shows both a trust in God’s work in their lives, that the Lord will bring those in the church to maturity, and also a willing patience in Paul to see that sometimes slow growth in God’s people. He is not anxious in this, but is happy to let the Lord work in them that they would see what he sees, to grow in maturity.
Paul then calls them to imitate his life, and anyone else who walks in the same pattern (v. 17). The phrase “join in following my example” could literally be translated as “become fellow-imitators of me” or “become imitators together with me” – as in, join me as I imitate Christ.
It’s important for the Philippians to “note” or “watch” the Apostle Paul and those who walk like him, because others in their midst walk as enemies of the cross of Christ (v. 18). Paul speaks of these enemies with tears in his eyes, demonstrating his compassion for the lost, though they are his Lord’s enemies. Their existence and his opposition to them do not cause him to swell up with pride, but rather pity, and it pains him to see them walk against the truth. Paul then gives four marks of these enemies, which we will consider shortly (v. 19).
The Apostle Paul then reminds the Philippians that their shared citizenship is in heaven, from which they “eagerly await” their Savior, knowing that when He comes their lowly bodies will be transformed and conformed to Christ’s glorious body (vv. 20–21). By “citizenship” here, Paul means that the believers’ communal and corporate status and identity come from heaven; it comes from the place where God Himself dwells. They are to live as citizens of heaven while on earth. This concept would have been relatable to those living in the colony of Philippi, for many of them enjoyed all the privileges of being Roman citizens, even though they were 800 miles away.
Lastly, the Apostle Paul, with deep affection admonishes them as his beloved and longed-for brothers, his joy and his crown, to stand fast in the Lord. To not be swayed or moved by the enemies of Christ, but to remain strong as they await their heavenly reward (v. 4:1).
So with that overview of our passage, let’s now narrow in on Paul’s call to imitate him and those like him.
Imitation is Inevitable
The first thing to understand is that God made man as imitators.
We see this all the way back in Genesis 1, which reads,
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth’” (vv. 26–28).
One understanding of what it means for man to be the “image of God” is that you are God’s representatives on the earth. Man is made to be a reflection of God in creation. You are made to mirror Him and to extend His rule throughout the earth as His image-bearers. And so Adam and Eve were to have dominion over creation as God’s representatives or vice-regents. They were to worship and imitate God in their work. They were to behold God, obey His good commands, and become more like Him.
But what happened there in that Garden?
They instead opened their ears and their hearts to a hissing voice. They began to believe and trust in Satan instead of their Creator and Lord, imitating his wicked ways, becoming more like the serpent’s image than God’s. And so in Adam man fell. And even when confronted by God in their sin and in their shame, Adam and Eve attempted to lie and deceive—imitating the father of lies.
Here we see that you become like what you worship. You become what you admire and desire. We see this in Psalm 115,
“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see; They have ears, but they do not hear; Noses they have, but they do not smell; They have hands, but they do not handle; Feet they have, but they do not walk; Nor do they mutter through their throat. Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who trusts in them” (vv. 4–8).
Those who make and trust in them—in idols—are like them. They become what they worship.
Now, not only do you imitate what others do—their actions—but you also imitate their desires. The fallen Serpent did not like his position beneath God. He wanted to be God. And that desire was picked up by Eve, as she embraced Satan’s view of the world. After Satan had Eve question God’s clear instruction, Genesis 3:6 reads, “So when the woman saw that tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.” Eve no longer was looking at her Maker, desiring to obey His commands and to imitate His desires, but now Satan’s. And immediately after it says, “She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” Her desire was contagious, and Adam—and all humanity in him—gave in.
This imitation of desire is what you see as parents, in a living room with little ones and toys. It’s the reason for the repeated cries and complaints you might hear at times. You’ll have Johnny playing intensely with his cars for twenty minutes, get bored, and move on to an enjoyable book. But the minute Susie wanders in and picks up a car – in a flash his desire for the cars is inflamed – and the fighting begins.
This is how God has made you. He made you imitators.
Note that I did not say “to be” imitators, as if this is something you need to decide to do. Imitation is inevitable. You do not need to be taught to imitate. The children fighting over toys or acting like pro athletes do not need to be told to do that. Your innate desire to imitate is a gift for growing in the grace of God – but like all of God’s good gifts, as we have seen, it can also be a curse when misused. So it’s not a matter of whether you will imitate others, but who you will imitate. It is not whether, but which.
Do Not Imitate God’s Enemies
Now, in our passage this morning, the Apostle Paul lays out two ways of life, two patterns for living — one that leads to life and one that leads to death and destruction. He writes,
“For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things” (vv. 18–19).
So Paul offers four identifiers for the kind of person that you must not imitate. Four traits to watch out for, and that explain why they are enemies of God.
We will start with “their god is their belly.” What does this mean? What does it mean for someone to have their belly as a god?
It means that they are ruled by their appetites. They are ruled by their lower passions and desires. They have these fleshly desires and rather than war against them as believers are called to do, rather than subdue them, they routinely and normally give in to their desires, their vain appetites, and their lusts. In this, they lack self-control nor even a desire for self-control. Like animals, they do whatever they feel like whenever they feel like it. They give in to and practice the sins of gluttony, lust, self-gratification, and all the rest that come with living in that way.
The Apostle Paul speaks similarly in Romans 16, where he warns, “Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple” (vv. 17–18).
They do not serve the Lord Jesus Christ but their own belly. This is incredibly pathetic and sad. To be so altogether inward-focused and self-consuming.
The second marker is that they “glory in their shame.”
This means that they rejoice in their sin, oblivious to their actual misery. As the prophet Isaiah cried out, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isa. 5:20–21).
We see an example of this in 1 Corinthians 5, where the Apostle Paul has to rebuke the Corinthians for being proud even though wicked sexual immorality was openly practiced among them. He writes, “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife! And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you… Your glorying is not good” (vv. 1–2, 6).
Sadly, it is not uncommon for certain sins to be cherished and championed when they should be condemned. And the one thing to note about glory is that we naturally want everyone to join us in ascribing glory to that which we love and praise. When you praise something, you invite others to see it as you do and join you in the praise. You actually want them to desire what you desire. And so you must avoid those who call evil good, because they are seeking to change your affections and desires to match theirs.
Lastly, the Apostle Paul says that they “set their minds on earthly things.” I want to pair this mark with the very first one that I skipped over – that their “end is destruction.”
This is in contrast to true believers in verse 20, whose citizenship is in heaven, and who eagerly await and look for the heavenly glory with Christ that is to come. Note again the use of the word “mind” there. The Apostle Paul began our passage today by calling those who are mature to have the same “mind” as him. But here, he talks about those who are not simply immature, but have an altogether different mind.
Their minds are set only on earthly things. They care only for this life. They are not striving to know Christ; they never think about their hope in Christ; they never ponder the approaching final Day of judgment and salvation. These people are simply too interested in and preoccupied with the things of this earth. In this, they delight in God’s good gifts but do not acknowledge Him as the Giver.
The Apostle Paul speaks to this division of desire between “earthly things” and heavenly things in Colossians 3. There he writes, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (vv. 1–2). Why ought you to do this? He continues, “For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (vv. 3–4). And because of this, he then calls them to put to death their “members which are on the earth” and various sins. To “seek those things which are above” is to desire, and chase after, those good and heavenly things – not the sinful things of earth.
So, to put all of this together, those who bear these marks are enemies of the cross of Christ, whom you must not walk after. For the direction they are walking ends in destruction, even if they are not aware of it.
This is important to understand. You will meet people who claim to be Christians, who claim the faith but whose words speak differently than their actions. And if you are looking at them with wisdom and discernment, you can see which direction they are facing and heading.
You need to avoid imitating or admiring people like this. You need to be willing to mark them and identify them as who they are – enemies of Christ, and ones that will pull you away if you set your eyes upon them as worthy of imitation. You must beware of men and women who have these features. And not just in personal relationships, but also in the media you consume.
In a like-minded community like ours, it is easy to believe that those who live this way are “out there.” And in a sense, there is truth to that. The majority of people you do life with in our circles are not enemies of Christ, although some of them are certainly straying. And so I mention “media” – whether social media, podcasts, or YouTube – because these are things that heavily influence your desires, and that you may not give much thought to.
So for example, what daily debates are you trying to keep up with on X? What niche conspiracy or obsession have you given yourself over to? What kind of personalities are you listening to in your podcast feed? Do they demonstrate Christlikeness? Or what you are watching in that wormhole of Instagram and Facebook reels – is that worth meditating upon? Or are you feeding your lust and envy?
I ask if they’re worth meditating upon because that is exactly what you are doing as you sit there passively watching while the time flies by and the world goes on around you.
Remember that the algorithms on these apps are programmed to know exactly what you spend the most time on and to serve up more and more and more of it. Corporations and personalities are literally directing your next step and catechizing you in worldviews contrary to the Word. If you want to know how someone goes from being a fair-minded, well-rounded Christian brother to an expert on the evil of the Jews and the good of Hitler – it happens over many days and months and years, consuming a slow drip of nonsense in their feeds.
So you need to ask yourself: when it comes to what you carry around in your pocket, are those things true? Are they good? Are they beautiful? Do they glorify God and build up your faith? Are they genuinely worth imitating? Are their desires the sort of desire that you should have? Do they cause you to love Christ and His church more?
Imitate Those Who Imitate Christ
So there’s one way of life that leads away from the knowledge of Christ and ends in a pit of destruction. But thanks be to God, there is another well-worn path that leads to glory with Christ.
Those who are on that path are seeking to know Christ more and more. They are not satisfied yet, they have not become bored with Him. They want to be more like Him, they want the mind of Christ, looking outward, rather than inward, in service toward others. And unlike enemies of Christ, they have set their desires on the things above.
They may be weak men and women, they will falter at times – but Christ is their chief aim and delight. These are people who walk in a way that is good. These are the people that you must desire to imitate, as they imitate Christ. For as the Apostle John wrote, “Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good.”
And so the question is, where do you find such people? As the Apostle Paul wrote, “Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.” Where do you find those who are walking according to this apostolic pattern?
This morning, I’m going to give you three categories to consider. You want to (1) imitate those who have gone before you, saints from the past (2) those who are around you, whom you are walking beside, and (3) those who are ahead of you, one step ahead in life and in maturity.
So, regarding those who have gone before you.
Here I have in mind what the author of Hebrews speaks of in Chapter 12, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…” Hebrews speaks of believers being surrounded by witnesses, those whose lives testify and speak to the worth of Christ, and who can encourage you to lay aside every weight in order to run the same heavenly race.
One reason that there is great value in looking to men and women of old is that they have gone to be with the Lord and have received their reward. Put simply, you can see if and how they ended well. You can see the totality of their life, and unlike those around us whose stories are still being written, you can read every chapter and come to the grand conclusion.
This is why Christians, since the earliest days, have always told stories of great men and women in the faith. We have interested ourselves in like-minded people, those faithful from the past, who have obtained a good testimony by faith. And so, one simple encouragement this morning as we consider the role of imitation in the Christian life is to read more biography. Read or listen to more Christian biography. Find men and women of the past worth imitating. And of course, by no means are these people perfect. You should not assume that a biography would include every sin or failure of theirs. Do not read in order to compare yourselves to them in an unhelpful way. They are merely men like you. Instead, don’t only be encouraged by their faithfulness, but read in order to see God’s faithfulness to them.
Next, I want you to find people around you worth following.
Consider your family and your friends. Consider the fellow saints and families in this congregation and church community. Who is like Christ?
There are some people who, after spending some time with them, leave you feeling filled up and encouraged in the Lord. We all know what this experience feels like. You leave not feeling drained or unsettled, but joyful.
So consider the company you keep. Are they leading you toward Christ or away? Proverbs 13 says, “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.” Because we are imitators, you are becoming more and more like your companions. If they are wise, you will be wise. But if they are fools, you will be a fool. And so it’s very important that you be intentional with your friendship and fellowship. This does not mean that you may not spend time with some who are stumbling, but rather, that you recognize when someone is stumbling, and seek to help them, rather than follow them in the wrong direction. So again, what peers come to mind when I ask you who in your life is like Christ? Who encourages you in the Lord? Who do you want to be more like? Those are the people you ought to follow.
Now, this naturally leads to the third category, which is those who are ahead of you.
By this I mean, those who are either significantly ahead of you in years or in life, or simply those you recognize as having greater maturity and wisdom than you.
One of the first places to look in regard to this is those in church leadership. These are men who meet the qualifications of a mature believer as found in Titus 1 and Timothy 3, and they are men that you, as a congregation, have called to serve you in this way. As Hebrews 13 exhorts, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith (v. 7).
It is such a blessing to live in a faithful church community with dozens of men in leadership, each with faithful families. Who among them do you find particularly encouraging? Ask yourself what it is about them, or their family, that you admire, and imitate that. And when you are struggling or have questions, seek out their counsel. That is what your pastors, elders, and deacons are here for.
Likewise, Titus 2 says that older women are to teach younger women, to love and honor their husbands, to love their children, and to live piously. So don’t hesitate to seek counsel from other wives and mothers as you navigate the many challenges you are facing.
Your God is incredibly kind. Christ is kind. He does not merely give you commands to obey. But He has given you His Spirit, and His Word, and people all around you to encourage you and show you the way forward. Do not neglect this great help in the Christian life, but obey the words of Paul in our passage this morning, and follow their example.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I want to remind you of this. Not only do you want to make sure you are imitating those worth imitating, but you must also seek to become the kind of Christian worth imitating yourself. You must daily endeavor to forsake all sin and pursue righteousness and holiness.
I am finishing up teaching my Foreign Missions course at New Saint Andrews again this Fall, and I have my students read the autobiography of the Scottish Presbyterian missionary, John G. Paton. There are a number of things I love about Paton’s life and ministry, but perhaps the most significant is the role his father plays in his story. His father was a simple yet devout man, who led his wife and ten children in family worship daily, but also set apart time for personal prayer to the Lord. Hear Paton’s memory of his father in his own words:
“Thither daily, and oftentimes a day, generally after each meal, we saw our father retire, and ‘shut to the door’; and we children got to understand by a sort of spiritual instinct (for the thing was too sacred to be talked about) that prayers were being poured out there for us, as of old by the High Priest within the veil in the Most Holy Place. We occasionally heard the pathetic echoes of a trembling voice pleading as if for life, and we learned to slip out and in past that door on tiptoe, not to disturb the holy colloquy. The outside world might not know, but we knew, whence came that happy light as of a new-born smile that always was dawning on my father’s face: it was a reflection from the Divine Presence, in the consciousness of which he lived. Never, in temple or cathedral, on mountain or in glen, can I hope to feel that the Lord God is more near, more visibly walking and talking with men, than under that humble cottage roof of thatch and oaken wattles. Though everything else in religion were by some unthinkable catastrophe to be swept out of memory, or blotted from my understanding, my soul would wander back to those early scenes, and shut itself up once again in that Sanctuary Closet, and, hearing still the echoes of those cries to God, would hurl back all doubt with the victorious appeal, ‘He walked with God, why may not I?’”
How beautiful is that? “He walked with God, why may not I?”
Do you see the power and influence that the life of a faithful father can have on his children? The desire of Paton to imitate his father’s example? Your faithfulness in your family, as a father or a mother, or brother or sister, will not look exactly like this. But I can assure you that your people are watching, and nothing will make following Christ more attractive than a life of genuine joy and satisfaction in God, as Paton’s father had.
Paton’s father not only influenced his faith, but also led him to his vocation.
As a young boy, Paton worked hard as a member of their very productive household, both in the family business and in academic studies. He writes:
“Though under twelve years of age, I started to learn my father’s trade in which I made surprising progress. We wrought from six in the morning till ten at night, with an hour at dinner-time and half an hour at breakfast and again at supper. These spare moments every day I devoutly spent on my books, chiefly in the rudiments of Latin and Greek; for I had given my soul to God, and was resolved to aim at being a missionary of the Cross, or a minister of the Gospel… How much my father’s prayers at this time impressed me I can never explain, nor could any stranger understand. When, on his knees and all of us kneeling around him in Family Worship, he poured out his whole soul with tears for the conversion of the heathen world to the service of Jesus, and for every personal and domestic need, we all felt as if in the presence of the living Saviour, and learned to know and love Him as our Divine Friend. As we rose from our knees, I used to look at the light on my father’s face, and wish I were like him in spirit,—hoping that, in answer to his prayers, I might be privileged and prepared to carry the blessed Gospel to some portion of the heathen world.”
Do you see that?
Not only did Paton find in his father a life worth imitating, but he found himself desiring that which is father most desired in his prayers—to see Christ worshiped and magnified in every nation. And so Paton became an answer to his father’s prayers, serving among unreached tribes in the South Pacific, suffering many trials, and yet bringing many of them to Christ. That is the power of influence from one ordinary father. And that is a demonstration of godly imitation and desire.