Philippians 3:18 “(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 mind earthly things.)”
Paul gives us two motivating reasons to “walk by the same rule” and “mind the same thing” (Philippians 3:16); that is, exclusively “walk by” the “rule” of the Word of God. First, there are many malicious and deceptive people who are “enemies of the cross of Christ”. Second, “our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). Paul makes it clear that “the enemies of the cross of Christ” are doomed. In this present life, the devil and his “enemies of the cross” seem to have seasons of abusive dominance; but, our Lord cyclically defeats them and, on the last day of this present world, they will be Eternally Defeated. But on the other hand, those whose “conversation is in heaven” anxiously look forward to the cyclic victories in this life and, best of all, the final Eternal Victory when they “shall be caught up together … to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (I Thessalonians 4:17)! The state of the Lord’s Church and Christian life may look bleak sometimes, but VICTORY IS ASSURED!