Go with me back to Philippians
2. Philippians 2. Verse 12 says, Wherefore, my beloved, as you
have always obeyed, Not only, not as in my presence only, but
now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation. He said, do it with fear and
trembling, but work out your own salvation. Now, is the Apostle Paul saying
what it sounds like he's saying? The same man who said, for by
grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it is
the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. The
same man who said, knowing that a man is not justified by the
works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we
have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by
the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law. For by
the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. The same man who said, for as
many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. The same man who said, not by
works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to
his mercy, he saved us. Is that same man now saying,
work out your own salvation? Go to work doing the things that
need to be done in order for you to be saved. You go accomplish
your own salvation. Let's look at this verse. This
is a favorite verse for those who love to work out their own
salvation. Let's look at it in the context
of the other verses around it. In Philippians 1, verse 6, he
said, 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. He's not saying that right there,
is he? He's not saying work out your own salvation. He said God
started the work and God will perform that work all the way
to the end. So he's not saying it right there.
Now in chapter 2, the verses leading up to what we just read,
chapter 2 verse 5 says, let this mind be in you which was also
in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God thought it not
robbery to be equal with God. but made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself. He took the sin of all of his
people and laid it on himself. He took the humiliation. He took
the guilt. Have you ever felt guilty over
your own sin? Have you ever felt guilty? Have you ever been ashamed? Ever? He took all of that shame and
all of that guilt and all of that sorrow and all of that misery
and He laid it on Himself. That's what relieves the guilt
from us. That's what lifts the weight
off of us. He took that, laid it on Himself. Verse 8 says, being found in
fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore, God also hath
highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of things
in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth. and
that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to
the glory of God the Father." He's not saying it right there,
is he? He's not saying work out your own salvation right there.
He said Christ came and he finished the work of salvation when he
laid down his life. He finished it when he laid down
his life. Because he did that, God has
highly exalted him. He is already exalted. It's over. It's over. All right, now let's look at
the verse immediately after work out your own salvation. Verse
13 says. For. That word means because
Meaning this came first. I say verse 12 because of verse
13. Verse 12 is the result of verse
13. For it is God which worketh in
you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. So the answer
is no. The answer is no. Paul is not
saying that our salvation is dependent on our own works, but
he is saying something. He is saying something. Verse
12 is not a wasted verse. It's not a irrelevant verse. He is saying something. Now,
what is he saying? He's saying this. Now that you
are a child, Now that I am a child, we have been adopted. Now that
we have been adopted into the family of God by the blood of
Christ, it's time for us to grow in grace. That's what he's saying. You're a child. You belong to
me. You're saved, you're safe, it's
over. Now it's time to grow in grace. That's what he's saying. Like
all healthy, nourished children do, it's time for us to grow. It's time for us to grow. He
said in verse 13, God has wrought a work in us. God has done something
in us. And there's a result that comes
from his work. What does the Spirit of God perform
in a sinner? God comes to a sinner. His Spirit
enters that sinner. And what does the Spirit of God
bring to the child of God? Look back just a few pages at
Galatians 5. Galatians 5 verse 22. It says, But the fruit of the
Spirit is love. It's love. The fruit of God's
Spirit. God's Spirit produced something. God commended His love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
The Spirit brought love to us. Verse 22 says joy. Why did Christ
despise the shame and endure the cross? Why did He do that?
We know He died. Why did He do that? Hebrews 12
says, for the joy set before Him. That is the Spirit of Christ,
the Spirit of God. One of these days we are going
to be filled with God's Spirit. We are not going to be hindered
by the flesh. The flesh is going to drop and
we will have a spiritual body and that spiritual body is going
to be Joy. Love. It's not just going to
have joy, it's going to be joy. It's going to be love. As He
is, that's how we are going to be. Love and joy. Verse 22 says, Peace. Right after He arose, He came
into His disciples. They were all in that upper room.
They were scared. They were sad and shocked. He entered into them, the first
thing that He said was, Peace be unto you. Peace has been brought
to you. Verse 22 says, Longsuffering. Peter wrote, Account that the
longsuffering of our Lord is salvation. Thank God He is patient
and longsuffering. Aren't you so glad for that?
Thank God He is nothing like me. Thank God his patience doesn't
wear thin. You know, you ever hear your
dad or mom say, you're trying my patience? Thank God he is
long suffering. That's our salvation. Verse 22
says, gentleness. I love how God the Father said
in Isaiah 42, talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, talking about
his servant, his elect. He said, concerning him, he said,
a bruised reed shall he not break. Don't you love that? And the
smoking flax shall he not quench. Gentle. gentle. I deserve to be put out. That
smoking flax deserves to be tsss. It's not going to do it. Verse
22 says goodness. The Spirit convinces the sinner
that there's none good but God. Verse 22 says faith. The Spirit
brings that faith and the child of God cries. He's the author
of it. He's the finisher of it. Verse
23 says meekness. Our Lord said, take my yoke upon
you and learn of me for I am meek. And then verse 23 says
temperance. Our Lord said, and lowly in heart. I'm meek and lowly in heart. Now look at verse 25 right here
in Galatians five. He said, if we live in the spirit,
If God's Spirit has come to us and produced life in us, if we
live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. That is exactly
what Paul is saying in Philippians 2. That's what he's saying in
Philippians 2. If we live in the Spirit, then
let us also walk in the Spirit. Work out what God has already
worked in. He said, work out your own salvation. Work out what God has already
worked in. This is how Christ dealt with
us. This is what he brought to us. If this is what he poured into
our cup, then may it run over. May it spill out. Now, my children,
Both of them have a desire to grow. They want to be bigger. They want to be taller. They
want to be older. I had an agreement with Sophie
and she broke it. She didn't hold up her end of
the bargain. When she was four, Her birthday came, and I told
her I did not want her turning five. I was not going to allow
her to turn five. And she wanted to, and I said,
I'm sorry. We're not doing that this year.
I would rather you stay four. So we went back and forth, and
she finally said, if you'll let me turn five, I won't turn six,
seven, or eight. Isn't that what you said? And
I said, that's a deal. You can turn five. Well, the
next year came, her birthday came, and she turned six on me. And I said, Sophie, we had a
deal. She said, Daddy, please. I said, okay. I let her turn
six. My children want to grow. So do God's children. Please, Abba, please. Now we all know she's going to
grow, right? He knows that too. Please, please. We have a heart to grow in His
grace, don't we? Don't you want that? Don't you
want to grow through the nourishment of His Spirit? Don't you want
that? I have some eight millimeter
footage. When I was a kid, we had one of those eight millimeter
video cameras, no sound, you know. Me and my dad standing in front
of the bathroom. He's standing in front of the
bathroom mirror. I'm kneeling on the lavatory counter. Both of us just have shaving
cream packed all over our face. I had a toy razor, no blade in
it. Here we both are, you know, if he did this side, I did this
side. He did that side, I did that side. You know why I did
that? I wanted to be just like him. I wanted to be just like Him. Do you know what children of
the Heavenly King want? They want to be just like Him. Wouldn't you love to be rid of
the body you're in right now? Wouldn't you love to be freed
from the sluggish bondage of this flesh, the heavy weight
of sin that's just sucking us down? God's children want to grow in
grace and be conformed to the image of Christ. They want to
be mature. They want to be complete. That's
what the scripture means by the word perfect. It means spiritually
mature. Look with me over at Matthew
5. Matthew 5 verse 43. Our Lord said, You have heard
that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate
thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your
enemies. Why? Because that's what he did. That's what he did. I'm living
proof of it. He said, love your enemies, bless them that curse
you. Do good to them that hate you
and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. That
you may be the children of your father, which is in heaven. For
he maketh his son to rise on the evil and on the good. and
sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love
them which love you, what reward have you? Do not even the publicans
the same? And if you salute your brethren
only, what do you more than others? Do not even the publicans so?
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven
is perfect. grow in that grace that He has
given you. Grow in that grace. Look at Ephesians
4 with me. Ephesians 4 verse 11. And he gave some apostles and
some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
for the spiritual maturity, for the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry. That's why he, that's why he
gives that gift. That's why he gives his spirit,
his grace, that maturity for the work of the ministry. for
the edifying of the body of Christ." Now, enter into this verse with
me, verse 13, "'Til we all come in the unity of the faith and
of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a spiritually mature
man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.'" Can you imagine that? That we
henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried
about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning
craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive, but speaking
the truth in love may grow up into him in all things. which is the head, even Christ. We're gonna grow up into him,
into his fullness. When God plants a seed, when
he plants a seed in the heart of his child, in his good time,
when he's ready, he causes that seed to grow. And that growth
inside the child forces growth on the outside of the child.
That's what happens. God's work in works its way out. It does. It works its way out.
And that's what Paul's saying in Philippians 2. He's telling
us we would be wise to recognize that this is the result of his
work. We would be wise to desire it, to pray for it, beg for it,
and nurture it. Nurture it. Here's a prime example.
God gives faith, doesn't He? God gives faith. That's the only
way it comes. God gives faith. God puts faith
in the heart of a sinner. What did God inspire James to
say? Faith without works is dead. Where did the faith come from?
God put it there, and he said, faith without works is dead.
What God works in will work out. It just will. If it does not
work out, then there's no evidence that God has ever worked in. And that's why his people cry. That's why we cry. Make it grow.
Cause it to grow. Cause that grace to grow. You've
given grace to me. Cause it to grow. I believe,
help thou my unbelief." You put faith in here, make it grow.
Cause me to grow. Make it grow and then cause me
to grow in it. Our Lord said in Luke 12, unto
whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required. Now, the older our girls get,
the more they grow up. The more Hannah and I require
of them, that's natural, right? The more
we require of them, they have responsibilities now. They didn't
when they were too young, but they have to make their bed.
They have to make their bed. That's something we tell them
they have to do, right? You have to make your bed. Isn't that right? Now,
they don't have to make their bed in order to get my DNA and
be my child. I have never made a list of chores
for them to do and said, if you complete this list, you can have
my DNA and scientifically be recognized as my child. That
is impossible. There's nothing they could do
to be my child. Nothing. There is no list of
chores that they could do to be my child. They have my blood
in them. That's what makes them my child.
Because they are my children, I tell them, you have to make
your beds. Because you are my children,
this is what I want you to do. I don't go into anybody else's
house. I don't go knock on anybody else's door, go to the kid's
room and say, now kids, get in here. Gotta make your beds. They're not my children. I say
that to them because they are my children. They are my children. They would be wise also to heed
that instruction. They would be wise to give diligence
to it, wouldn't they? Look right here at the end of
Ephesians 4. Down through this chapter, Paul was telling them
on the authority of God, do this and don't do that. In verse 28,
he said, let him that stole steal no more. Don't do it. Verse 29, let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth. Don't have a filthy mouth. Don't
do it. Verse 30, he said, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of
God. Can this old flesh grieve God's
Holy Spirit? Can it do that? Can it grieve
God's Holy Spirit? Our Lord said to the church at
Ephesus. We're hearing in Ephesians right
now. Our Lord said to the church at Ephesus in Romans 2, I have
somewhat against thee. He said if you don't stop doing
what you're doing, I'm going to remove the candlestick from
you. Isn't that terrible? In 1 Corinthians 11. It says,
for this cause, many are weak and sickly among you, and many
sleep. Many have died. I've just removed
them. Grieve not the Holy Spirit. Oh man, Lord, keep me. Keep me
from it. He said, you are my child, and
now it's time to act like it. It's time to act like it. That's
not hard to understand, is it? I understand that perfectly in
my own family. This is so. This is so. This instruction,
this growth, these commandments from our Lord, they're
not recommendations. I've never given them a recommendation
to make their bed. These things are so and these
things slay me. These things absolutely slay
me and I'm going to tell you why. I cannot live up to his
demands. I cannot live up to his demands. This old flesh right here cannot
do what he requires of me. Read through these. You know,
we went to love. You know, our Lord said, love
your neighbor as yourself. I've never done that in my life.
Never. And if I say I have, I'm now
a liar. Didn't we just read, don't lie? I cannot do what He requires
of me. As I look down through these
things and say, this is what I want my children to do, as
I see that, I realize I cannot do it. I cannot do it. I wish I could. I want to. I do want to. I wish that I could work out
what He has worked in. He has put faith in here. I wish
I could use it. Wouldn't you love to use it?
Wouldn't you love to just have faith? Have faith. Why are you so fearful? Oh, you
have little faith. Wouldn't you love to just have
faith? He put love in here. Wouldn't you love to just love? Forgiveness. Wouldn't you love
to just forgive? Just forgive. How to perform
that which is good though I find not. What I wish I did, that I don't
do. What I wish I did not do, that's
exactly what I do. Oh wretched man that I am. I don't think that I can work
out what God has worked in. I just don't think I can work
out what God has worked in. If anybody else agrees with me,
go with me back to the text. Verse 12 says, Wherefore, my
beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but
now much more in my absence. Work out your own salvation with
fear and trembling for it is God which worketh in you both
to will and to do of His good pleasure. That's great news. That is great news. Everything
he has demanded of you, he has performed for you. Isn't that
relieving? Every single thing. Paul just
said, you've always obeyed. You've always obeyed. How? God obeyed for you. God obeyed
for you. In Christ our God, you are perfect. You are complete. You are mature. So he said in verse 14, do all
things without murmurings and disputing. We have no reason
to complain about anything, do we? It's always good news. It's always good news. Do all
things without murmurings and disputings, that you may be blameless
and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke in the midst of
a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights
in the world. He said, you all shine as lights
in the world. I don't see that in myself, but
buddy, I see that in Christ. That is a light shining in the
world. Verse 16 says, holding forth
the word of life, holding forth the word of life, that I may
rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain,
neither labored in vain. I believe this verse of scripture
right here, I believe you're going to love this. This verse
of scripture sums up everything he's saying. And I'm going to
close with this. Go to Hebrews 13. This perfectly
sums up everything he's saying. Hebrews 13 verse 20. Now the God of peace. that brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of
the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
He will make you perfect in every good work to do His will working
in you, that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ,
to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. All I know to say
to that is thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I do want to be a better follower
of Christ. I want to be a better child of
God. I want to grow in grace. I want to grow in every single
one of these things. But knowing the way I am, all
I can say is thank you. Thank you for doing everything
that needed to be done. And if he does produce any growth
in here, If it is evidenced that there is any growth right here,
He gets all the glory for it. Every ounce of it. And we'll
just say, thank you. And we'll just keep saying, please
continue to make it grow. May the Lord make it grow. All
right, let's stand together.