Heaven! What a heavenly place! When Jesus Christ comes alive in us, we have a longing, a deep yearning to go to this place where our Lord lives! Interwoven through this letter Paul points out that place where we are all going to reside - if we love Jesus. Heaven! There is unlimited room for those who love Him. Just think: a nation that has that as the only one requirement to belong.

We just read of some people in the church who belonged to this great nation heaven. But they forgot how to behave! They were not heavenly minded...and they were a pain on earth to those around them. Their god- their belly. They saw no glory in the cross of Christ. They had no glimpse of the glory that awaited them. Paul even named two women - hard workers in the church, who needed to forgive each other and get on with work for Christ while they were on earth. These and so many others who loved Christ Jesus had their names written in the book of life. Here were echoes of the psalm we read: "This one and that one were born in Zion...when He registers the peoples,.. All my springs of joy are in you." (87)

Right in the middle of sinful men and selfish women, Paul breaks in with fresh insight in how to look at where they belong. FOR OUR COMMONWEALTH - citizenship, or conversation (KJV)- IS IN HEAVEN, FROM WHICH WE EAGERLY WAIT FOR A SAVIOR, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. (3:20)

Today, I want to make sure we are aiming for heaven! It is so easy to get distracted by personal struggles in your life: a job going nowhere, a relationship breaking between friends or family, a deep fear that the doctor’s report will be bad news. So many things come at us. We can easily get away from the high call of Jesus Christ. We can easily forget that we are citizens of the most wonderful nation this universe could ever know. Allow me, for a moment, to give Paul the floor...

"Friends in Philippi, you know how the Romans conquered you. They sent their veterans from Rome, who set up a colony of Rome in Philippi. They brought their styles of clothing, Latin to speak, Roman laws to follow, culture, customs, their magistrates and other officials to see that Rome was brought to Philippi. They ruled you, but never forgot that they belonged to Rome. So, friends, begin to see yourselves like them, a colony, a commonweath of heaven right there in Phillipi. You have a savior and heaven to show them. Until He returns, Be CITIZENS OF HEAVEN AND WORKERS ON EARTH!"

That picture has value for us today, too! God is Lord and King over both nations: this world, which is temporary; heaven, which is eternal. How about it, Church. Does our conduct reflect our citizenship in heaven? Are people in the world eager to know Jesus by our words and our behavior? If we can see ourselves as a colony from heaven, maybe, just maybe greater things can be done for Christ as His workers here on earth.

I-Citizens of Heaven

To refresh you for a moment, let me review some details about heaven. I get a lot of questions. Just as we are required to know some basic things about our great nation, we should know heaven! "When you talk of heaven, your face should light up with a smile. When you talk of hell, your ordinary face will do." (Spurgeon)

Is heaven a real place, or just a state of mind? "In my father’s house are many mansions...I go there to prepare a place for you." Jesus called it a place, not a state of mind. We do not know where it is, but it will be a place, just like our city is a place.

What does it look like? Few details are given to us. We could not begin to grasp them. Things we value are placed in walls and on streets. Put aside all the jokes about St Peter at the gates. He is not there! He is part of the same commonwealth, equal with us who love His Lord and ours. Revelation 19-22 reveals many things that will be missing from this nation, this world: no more tears, death, mourning, crying; no more curse nor pain and no more night. We will have new bodies, transformed by God. We will be in the presence of God and The Lamb Jesus Christ; He will be our light. There will be a great feast. Wonderful worship will be ours! We will serve Him in new ways. We will know our loved ones. "The whole family in heaven and on earth is named."(Eph 3.15)

Heaven! Question: who wants to go there? Maybe you heard of the cowboy who heard a minister ask that of his flock. Packing his gun down to the front of the church, he waved it over the heads of the shocked congregation. "I got my gun, Reverend, if you just point out those who wanna go, reckon we could get up a load right now." Who wants to go to heaven? Well, I hope all of us, but not quite that way!

This place called Earth is still a great place to be. Truly, we discover and relish the wonderful days, the changing of the seasons with all its glories. But do you feel you really belong here? Some think that this world is the best of all possible worlds. They want to live forever. Billions are spent to look younger, to stay younger, or even to freeze us if we have a disease for which there is no cure now...but later!

I love this world, but I feel like a stranger in it. You see, this world is not my home. Heaven is my home! God is king and lord of both this world and the next one. I have a dual citizenship- one is in this world, which is temporary. I’m here on a resident visa only. The other world, heaven, is permanent, eternal. That is the only place all my needs will finally be met.

"Aim at heaven and you will have the earth thrown in. Aim at the earth and you will get neither." (CS Lewis) I hope you can see now that heaven is worth aiming for while working here on earth! Be sure that you remember your greater nation while on earth.

Our citizenship and conduct will reflect our loyalty to the kingdom of God, not the heathen customs of Rome. Set your minds on things above. Like the Philippians, we are to be a colony of heaven in the middle of the culture where we live. You’ve heard the saying, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." But Paul says, "When you are a citizen of the Lord’s Commonwealth let your conduct match your citizenship." Now we come to the second part - here on earth.

II-Workers on Earth

You’ve heard the expression, I am sure, "Do not be so heavenly bound that you will not make a difference in the community where you live. Here is where trouble usually comes to church. We have often been ridiculed: we are so heavenly minded, you are no earthly good. I don’t believe that for a moment. Friends, there is tremendous energy IN A PRESENT POWER OF A FUTURE HOPE! "We eagerly wait for a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." He will return! Until He does, all who are part of His kingdom, His commonwealth, are to reflect the Lord Jesus Christ. How? In dedicated living and in devoted service to Him. If you are not sure how to do this, get to know the Lord.

He wants to live through you and me. Paul said, "follow my example..." We warn our children to be their own person. You might be familiar with the miniature trees that the Japanese are famous for developing. The process is "Bonsai," or cutting the tap root. Do that and growth stops. It is cute in special gardens. It is horrible to have that kind of life in Christ. In the Christian life, if you are not sure how to behave, choose a more mature man or woman to follow until you catch on!

The first thing you learn: the man or woman you follow knows how to listen for the voice of the Lord. That takes time, prayer and study. Give some time to BE IN THE WORD ...not in a devotional about the Word. Talk to Him about what you do know about Him. Ask Him to reveal more of Himself in you. You will be amazed at your growth. You will find out that you are like a healthy tree with deep roots in our Lord.

If you will do this, you will learn the second truth from your mature person in Christ. They obey! When we learn to obey, Jesus Christ begins to TRANSFORM US TO LOOK LIKE HIM! These are the people who make the difference in homes and churches and communities. They do the jobs to make a place work and be productive. We can complain all we want about the rise in crime, the abuse of drugs and a whole list of other sins. But there are a lot of lazy saints who do not care. Clara Hale made a difference.

At age 62, when others are heading for retirement, she became fired up for Christ in a most simple and profound way. She watched her community in New York City, become awash with babies abandoned by mothers ruined by crack and cocaine.

She took one, then two, and then, asking for help, dozens more. She simply offered herself as a mother in the hands of Christ to motherless babies. Others were inspired to help. She died about five years ago at age 80. When people talked of her they said they could see a "heavenly glow." What a witness of one in a colony of believers in New York. Who will bring that heavenly glow here to our community? Our Lord can always use one ready to be His.

We have the PRESENT POWER OF A FUTURE HOPE! "Stand firm in the Lord!" (4.1) That word does not mean that we must be rigid. Act as though the nation we represent here is ALREADY HERE! That allows for the grace of God to move in our lives for others who are not where we are. Paul could have scolded those two women for their own selfishness. Instead he cried out, "I entreat... beseech ...stand alongside of and urge you both to come back together...one mind in Christ!" Act as though the problem can be solved! If we are in this wonderful colony of heaven on earth, we can learn to bring a sense of hope. It is too easy to crush another because we are rigid about the Lord.

A young man came to the father of his beloved and asked him for her hand in marriage. "You must have $40,000 in the bank before I allow you to marry my daughter." The ensuing months brought heated debate between the father and the daughter. At a crisis point the father feared he would lose his daughter forever. So he called the young man into his office. "How much do you have in the bank?" "$56.65." The father looked at him and said, "Let’s call it even." There is a grace that comes for those who stand firm in the Lord. He will come again and put everything into order. When we stand firm in the Lord, we really discover that He stands firmly in us-our present power and future hope!

The Olympics are about to start. Return to the games in the city of Barcelona, Spain. Derrick Redman represented his nation Great Britain in the 400 meter race. Rounding the final curve in the race for the gold medal, his worst nightmare happened. His hamstring muscle snapped. Crying out in agony, he was finished. But he got up and began to struggle toward the finish line. He was in such pain officials pleaded for him to stop. He continued. Suddenly, the TV cameras showed another man who came out on the track. He placed his arms around him in a helping way. This time, Derrick allowed the man to help him. It was his father. Sensing something special was happening, the crowd began to cheer louder than ever. Leaning on his father’s arm, Derrick finished the race. Someone else got the medal. He stole the show. After the race a reporter asked his father why he helped. "We started this together, and we are going to finish this together."

Citizens of heaven, workers on earth. We have a great nation we represent - heaven. We have men and women in Christ we can follow and know that we will finish together in Christ. May heaven urge you to serve Him and get a taste of glory divine!