Philippians 3: 17 – 4.1 (ESV)
Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. 18 For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
4.1 Therefore, my brothers, whom I love & long for, my joy & crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
Sermon Quotes and References:
We must never become those who denounce but do not weep. Nor those who weep but never denounce. Too much is a stake both ways. – DA Carson
Caesar Augustus was acclaimed & announced as the “savior of the world” because he restored order & peace throughout all the provinces & regions under his sovereign rule. But by applying that specific imperial title “Savior” to Jesus Christ, Paul explicitly (and no doubt deliberately) speaks of Jesus in language which echoes, and therefore deeply subverts, language in common use among Roman imperial subjects to describe Caesar. Paul redirects the focus of his readers from the savior in Rome, Caesar Augustus, to the Savior in heaven, Jesus Christ the Lord. Writing from a Roman prison to a Roman colony, Paul spells out a greater vision of the future than any Caesar could ever offer or accomplish. Walter Hansen, Philippians