Calvary Road Baptist Church
“HE IS ABLE”
Philippians 3.21
Philippians 3.21. I once indicated that the Apostle Paul was giving his beloved Philippians some good reasons in this epistle for being humble and following the examples he had paraded before them. I also mentioned that when Paul was dealing with the things associated with the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to His Own and for His Own, there was a sequence you could rely on.
You may remember that Paul’s first concern, related to the coming again of his Savior, was his Savior. When you are reunited with a loved one after a long separation, your first concern is with the loved one you long for, followed by a concern or anticipation for what gifts or presents that loved one has brought to give you. And it was the same with Paul.
I’m sure that the minds of the immature are captivated by the gifts and the presents that Daddy brings back from his trip. But with maturity comes the realization that loved ones are more important than gifts and presents. So, too, with spiritual maturity. New Christians are often engrossed with concerns about the Rapture and the following spiritual rewards and crowns. But with maturity comes an ever-increasing concern only with seeing Him Who, not having seen, we love. Paul expressed that anticipation for the Savior in Philippians 3.20, where he wrote,
“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
He now turns his attention to what the Lord Jesus Christ will do when He comes for us from heaven. That’s in Philippians 3.21:
“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.”
By the time we have finished considering this verse, let’s grasp a concept, a reality, a truth. And this is the little germ of truth we need to grasp and hang on to this morning: What Jesus starts, He finishes.
Philippians 1.6 is a beautiful verse that many Christians have committed to memory:
“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
What a comfort this verse is. It declares that what the Lord Jesus Christ has begun in your life, Christian, He will continue with until the Day of Jesus Christ. But this verse also tells us what Jesus will do on that Day of Jesus Christ. These two verses, taken together, Philippians 1.6 and Philippians 3.21, cover the whole, from conversion through the Christian life to heaven.
There are two aspects of this verse that are important for us to see:
First, WE SEE THE GLORIFICATION OF THE SAVED
Glorification is a wonderful thing. But what is it? First Corinthians chapter 15 has the most detailed explanation of glorification found in the Bible. Several other New Testament passages refer to it, as well. But in our text for today, Paul uses the fact of our future glorification as a motive for humility. In the first half of Philippians 3.21, reference is made to three things that bear on our glorification.
First, glorification is by the Savior.
Paul writes,
“Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.”
This glorification event, this transformation, is something that is going to be accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the “Who” in this verse. If we take Philippians 1.6 together with Philippians 3.21, and all the rest of God’s Word that we have studied, we see that salvation is initiated by God and by the Lord Jesus Christ, that salvation is continued by God and by the Lord Jesus Christ, and that salvation is culminated by God and by the Lord Jesus Christ. Specifically, the Lord Jesus Christ is here credited with glorifying believers when He comes for us from heaven. What will you do related to that great event? Nothing.
Second, glorification is from our humility.
“Who shall change our vile body”
Let’s make sure we correctly understand the word “vile,” so that some misconception does not carry us off. The Greek word Paul used here is the word elsewhere translated “humble.” Paul is not suggesting that your physical body is some disgusting and foul thing God hates. If you are saved, your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit of God, so there should be nothing awful about it. Roman Catholic asceticism, which manifested itself in monasteries and so-called holy men who lived as hermits in days gone by, resulted from a heresy called Gnosticism. Gnostic heretics misinterpreted this verse and others because they felt that people’s sinfulness was related to their physical bodies rather than their sinful nature. They would starve themselves, isolate themselves, and go for days or weeks without talking, all of that nonsense in an ill-advised and ridiculous attempt to exert control over their physical bodies.
The flagellants who crucify themselves in the Philippians, and the women who crawl for miles on their hands and knees to the statue of the Virgin of Guadeloupe, are a holdover of this unscriptural view of the human body as being evil because it is physical. This Gnostic heresy is one of the underlying justifications for a celibate priesthood and nuns. It goes back to the false belief that all physical appetites are sinful and wrong and that only those who deny even their sexual urges in marriage can ever be truly holy in the sight of God. Nuts.
What Paul really means when he refers to “our vile body” is this body of humility. Sin has humbled man. And even the saved man must continue to live in a physical body that is brought low by the constant struggle with a sinful nature. But the body itself, though it is a humble abode, is not wicked. What Paul is calling attention to by describing the human body in this way is the starting point when glorification occurs. When Jesus changes us, He will start with us way down here.
Third, glorification is like unto His glorious body:
“... that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body....”
What is glorification? It is a transformation whereby the believer’s body is instantaneously and miraculously altered so that it is fashioned to be like the resurrection body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our present physical bodies are designed to function in this physical universe. We have five senses that work pretty well in this environment. But outside this physical universe, with God and the Lord Jesus Christ in glory, will be an existence beyond the bounds of time and space and the physical universe we are presently in. Existence and functionality there will require a different kind of body, a glorified body. When Jesus comes, He will so transform the bodies of saved people, both living and those already dead, that they are outfitted with a body suited for timeless eternity in heaven.
Second, WE SEE THE OMNIPOTENCE OF THE SAVIOR
The word “omnipotence” refers to the Lord Jesus Christ being all-powerful and infinite and incomprehensible. In other passages in God’s Word, the Lord Jesus Christ’s omnipotence is declared, whereas in this verse, His power and might are intimated.
First, the Savior’s power is intimated by His power to save. Paul begins the second half of the verse with these words:
“according to the working whereby he is able....”
In other words, the power demonstrated in the Lord Jesus Christ’s salvation, mainly when He returns to glorify His Own, when He fashions our bodies like unto His Own glorious body, is a reflection of His Own limitless power and might.
And to communicate the magnitude of His power and might, Paul points out that it is
“according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”
To state this another way: The Lord Jesus Christ’s power to save and to glorify His Own is proportional, is by the same measure that He is able to bring His power and might to bear in the conquest of His enemies and in making the entire universe to be subject to Him.
Do you want to be reminded of the power and the might of the Lord Jesus Christ to subdue all things to Himself? Revelation 19.11-21:
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
19 And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21 And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.
My friends that is power.
SERMON:
Let me bring all this together for you. The Lord Jesus Christ finishes what He starts. That person who is justified by faith? He will be saved from the power of sin in his life, preserved, and, ultimately, be glorified by the Savior and taken to heaven. That is going to happen. Why? Because what the Savior starts, He finishes.
How do we know the Lord Jesus Christ can do what He intends to do? How do we know that He is able? Oh, He is able. He is supremely powerful and mighty, even to the point of bringing all things into subjection to Himself, which includes the most powerful of created beings, Satan.
And the point of all this we’ve been told? To humble us. Humility is the missing ingredient in the life of the Church. The examples given in this letter to the Philippians, from Paul to Timothy, to Epaphroditus, to the Lord Jesus Christ, have all been examples to follow of humility. And the last two verses of chapter three are the reasons to follow the examples of humility.
Is it not humbling to consider this King Who is our king, this Lord Who is our lord, this One Who is mighty to save, Who could have used His majesty and His might to subdue us by means other than His grace? What if Revelation 19 described what is to happen to you and me, Christian?
It is humbling that it is not a description of what will happen to me, that Philippians 3.21 is instead what will happen to me. Because, but for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, He could use His might not to glorify us but to cast us into outer darkness. Amen? What a sobering thought.
Look at the last phrase of our text for this morning:
“Whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”
I like the phrase, “He is able.” That sums it up. He is able. If ever there was a phrase that better described the abilities, the capacity, of the Lord Jesus Christ than “He is able,” I wouldn’t know what it could be.
What is the Lord Jesus Christ able to do? Have you ever considered it? Have you ever pondered? Have you ever studied? You might think, “The Lord Jesus Christ can do anything.” But He cannot do everything. There are some things He simply cannot do.
Can the Lord Jesus Christ make a rock so big that He is too weak to lift it? No. There’s one thing He cannot do. Can the Lord Jesus Christ tell a lie or do anything else that’s wrong? No. That’s another thing He cannot do.
So, besides being intellectually lazy, the fact of the matter is you cannot just declare that the Lord Jesus Christ can do anything. Because of His character, there are certain things He cannot do. So, if you want to find out what the Lord Jesus Christ can do, you have to study God’s Word to find out.
If you study God’s Word, you will discover some of the marvelous things the Lord Jesus Christ can do. For example: In Hebrews 7.25 we learn that He is able to save:
“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”
Isn’t that amazing? No matter who you are, where you are, or what you are, the Lord Jesus Christ can save you if you come to God by Him.
Try to come to God other than by Jesus Christ, and you will burn in Hell forever. But if you go to Him as a means of coming to God, He will save you from your sins, forgive you, cleanse you in His precious shed blood, and give you eternal life. He is able to do that. What fantastic news for sinners who want to be saved from their sins.
Here’s another one: In Hebrews 2.18 we are told that He is able to succor them that are tempted:
“For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.”
My Savior knows what it’s like to suffer. My Savior knows what it’s like to be tempted, though He has never sinned. And because of that, He is able to succor me and others who know Him as their personal Savior in our hour of temptation.
What does it mean to “succor” someone? To succor someone simply means to help them out. In other words, the Lord Jesus Christ will never leave you without help when you need it, when you are tempted, when times are hard. And did He not say, “I will never leave you nor forsake you?” What wonderful news this is to the child of God, guaranteeing that the Savior cannot only save but also keep you.
But what happens to the person who loves his sin more than he loves his own soul? What happens to the person who refuses to forsake his sin in favor of the Savior? What happens to the person whose approach to life is so passive, nonchalant, and laid back that he never gets around to dealing with his sin and seeking the Savior of his soul?
As Philippians 3.21 shows so clearly, this same Savior Who is able to save sinners Who come to Him, and this same Savior Who is so able to succor the saints, is likewise able to subdue those who refuse Him. Allow me, if I may, to describe the progression involved in the subduing of the lost by the Lord Jesus Christ.
First, IN THE LIFE OF AN UNSAVED PERSON, IN YOUR LIFE IF YOU ARE NEVER SAVED, WILL COME DELUSION
Second Thessalonians 2.10-12:
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Consider this passage very carefully sometimes. It’s a frightening warning to the lost who will not respond to the truth. This passage particularly speaks to events that will occur after the Rapture of the Church Age believers and just before the Second Coming of Christ. But the events described in these three verses fit a pattern of God’s dealings with unrepentant sinners throughout history.
Here’s the pattern: God graciously exposes you to the truth of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God woos you and convicts you of your sin. But because you receive not the love of the truth that you might be saved, God will send upon you a strong delusion so that you will, instead, believe a lie. The result of all this? You will be damned because you believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness instead.
This is exactly what happened in Noah’s day before the Flood. This is what happened to the inhabitants of the city of Sodom during Abraham’s day. This is what happened to Pharaoh during Moses’ lifetime. This is what happened to Caiaphas, the high priest when the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. In each situation, the delusion, as a direct result of their rejection of the truth, was the delusion that God would not bring judgment upon them for what they had done.
Do you think it’s any different today? Romans chapter 1 clearly shows what happens as a result of determination to resist the truth and continue in sin against God—rebellion results in being given up by God to uncleanness, Romans 1.24. Continuation of sin results in God giving sinners up to vile affections, Romans 1.26. And then God turns them over to a reprobate mind, Romans 1.28.
Listen to the list of sins committed by those turned over by God to a reprobate mind, Romans 1.28-32:
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
Do you think this happens only to wicked old men after many years of steadfastly refusing to submit to God? How do you explain “disobedient to parents,” verse 30? That can only refer to children since adults are not obligated to obey their parents. Then, God will occasionally turn even children over to reprobate minds. Has He turned you over to a reprobate mind? Perhaps you and I need to discuss the matter.
And what delusion will these people, such as you are or as you know, believe? Second Peter 3.3-10:
3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
It’s the same old delusion. You will be deluded into denying that God’s judgment is coming upon you. You will insist that nothing has ever happened in the past and will never happen in the future. It’s all just fairy tales told to scare children. Continue thinking about that. That is the delusion.
AFTER THE DELUSION COMES THE DESTRUCTION
Go ahead and leave Church today and laugh off what God’s Word says. Convince yourself that these are all old wives’ tales, that this is all just so much religious hype, that it’s really just primitive superstition. What you will thereby be doing, understand, is calling God a liar.
Continue to live out your remaining time on earth, sinning and being sinned against. Justify and rationalize, excuse and reason within yourself. But what will be happening, according to Romans 2.4-5, is that despising the goodness and forbearance of God, you are just treasuring up for yourself wrath against the Day of Wrath and the righteous revelation of the righteous judgment of God. In other words, you’re just making it worse and worse and worse and worse on yourself come Judgment Day.
Then comes your destruction. You will call it dying, or passing on, or some other euphemistic term. But what it will be for you, really, is destruction. Get someone other than me to preach your funeral, someone who will lie to the family and tell them that you are indeed in heaven. After all, everyone goes to heaven when they die. Don’t they? But the reality will be that you’ve been destroyed.
Not annihilated. Not like you will cease to exist, because your soul is eternal and undying. But you are destroyed in the sense that you will be utterly ruined and in Hell. Oh, the pain. Oh, the horror of it. The agony. The isolation. The blackness. And the flames. There will always be the flames.
Finally, COMES THE DAMNATION
Being destroyed in Hell for some 1007+ years, there will come a day when the punishment, agony, and torment will stop. “What a relief,” you will initially think to yourself. But then you will be filled with dread. It was appointed unto men, all men, once to die. And die and go to Hell you did. But after that comes the judgment. You’d almost forgotten the Judgment. So, now you begin to howl and shriek in anticipation of the Great White Throne Judgment. As if your destruction wasn’t bad enough, now comes your damnation.
You will be brought up from Hell. Though you achieved great success in your former life on earth, you will still stand, accountable and answerable, before God. And then the books will be opened, the books in which are recorded all your sinful words, thoughts and deeds. All your wickedness and blasphemies. All your scornings and rebellions. The dishonors and the deceits will all be rehearsed by the angel who will read your personal history out of the book.
Then you will bend your knee, bow your head, and confess with your tongue what you refused to confess during your mortal life span. Because of your stubbornness and your love of sin and the fruits of evil, you would never seriously consider bending your knee to Jesus as Lord or bowing your head in respect to Him. And confess Him as Lord? In front of the friends you made who now await judgment themselves?
You dare not look at Him. His eyes are as flames of fire. Though He was to you at one time the Lamb of God who bid you to come, He is now the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the righteous judge and conquering king, avenging Himself upon you.
As your final sentence is pronounced, you are cast into the lake of fire and filled with shock, surprise, horror, and terror. The pain. The agony. The torment. It is so much more horrible than before. And so, you go absolutely mad with pain that you will endure forever, and ever, and ever, and ever.
And what will have been accomplished? The Lord Jesus Christ, the One Who offered Himself to you, Who shed His blood to cleanse away His people’s sins, but Who found you finally and irretrievably rebellious toward Him, has subdued you.
He saved those who would be saved. He succored those who had been saved and then faced temptations. But you who refused Him He subdued. God said that at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bend, and every head shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Not having done that by coming to Jesus for salvation and forgiveness during this natural lifetime, you will do that after your delusion has led you to destruction in Hell, and before you are finally disposed of in the damnation which is the lake of fire, where the fire is not quenched and the worm dieth not.
For ever and ever and ever, you will be asking yourself, “Why didn’t I come to Jesus?” And what, poor soul, will your answer be?
Question? Comment?
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