Okay, so this morning's study
is going to be coming from the book of Philippians chapter 2,
where we'll be looking at verses 12 through 15. Many times when
Philippians chapter 2 is referenced, it's focused on verses 6 through
11, and that's for a good reason. But we had a wonderful look at
those verses with Brother Wayne Boyd while he was here just a
few short weeks ago. So I would like to take a brief
look at a few of those this morning that surround that verses six
through 11. And so we'll begin reading by
reading verses 12 through 18 as we start our look at this
particular passage. Verse 12 starts out with the
word therefore, or wherefore, depending on the Bible translation
you are reading from, and is a word that denotes a transition
of thought or focus, which we will look at After the reading,
we will begin reading at chapter two, verse 12 of Philippians. Therefore, 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 who works in you
both to will and to do for his good pleasure. Do all things
without complaining and disputing that you may become blameless
and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of
a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights
in the world, holding fast the word of life so that I may rejoice
in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in
vain. Yes, and if I am being poured
out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your
faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. For the same reason,
you also be glad and rejoice with me. So just a little bit
of history on the church at Philippi. It was the first Christian church
in Europe that was planted by the Apostle Paul. on his second
missionary journey around AD 50. The congregation developed
into a predominantly Gentile fellowship, and we will see as
Brother Norm continues on with the study in the Book of Acts,
Luke wrote a lot about the church in Philippi and its beginnings. Women, I knew I should have taken
a cough drop. Women also played an essential
role in the life of the church at Philippi, An example being
Lydia, who was put forth as the first Christian convert in Philippi. That was the beginning of the
church. There, from the time it was established, the church
at Philippi was healthy, strong, and generous, a model church
that Paul was very fond of and had great faith that they would
remain steadfast in their faith. The Philippians, likewise, were
very fond of Paul. and were a significant financial
supporters of him throughout his ministry, as Paul makes clear
in chapter four of Philippians. So looking first at verse 12,
as mentioned, it begins with the word therefore, because it
is referring back to what Paul was speaking to in verses six
through 11. But he's actually gonna take
us back to verse five, where it says, your attitude should
be the same as that of Christ Jesus. And what was that attitude
that Paul alludes to? So let's go on and read verses
six through eight. Verses six through eight of Philippians
chapter two. Who, being in the form of God,
did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself
of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming
in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point
of death, even the death on the cross. So Paul describes how
Christ, through God, took the form of a servant, was born as
a human, lived obediently, and died innocently on the cross. He was God who came to earth,
but instead of lording it over those he came across, he, God
the Son, took on the nature of a servant a servant to those
he had created. It is stated very clearly here
as verse six says, who being in the form of God did not consider
robbery to be equal with God. He was equal to God being God
himself, but he was not going to take advantage of that, but
instead would take on the nature of a humble servant, being obedient
even to the point of death on the cross. So again, as it says
in verse five, your attitude should be the same as that of
Christ Jesus. Those few verses has set us up
to start our look at verses 12 through 15. And they basically
are saying, therefore, my beloved, you should emulate the humbleness
and obedience of Jesus Christ. Now we know that in our flesh,
we cannot be as Christ was obedient. since he was perfect in his obedience. But as we have discussed before,
a truly saved person will not rest on that obedience of Christ. He being our perfect obedience
before the Father. We have a new nature as a result
of our being born again and fail as we do. Our desire is to be
as Christ-like as we can be and continually give praise to God
that in Christ he has delivered us from all our failures. If
that is not our attitude, but instead it is to believe that
since Christ has died for all our sins, past, present, and
future, we can just continue on in our life of self-gratification
and indifference to all that Christ has done for us, well,
That is not the path that one who has the Spirit of Christ
dwelling in them will take or even desire. As Paul proclaims
in Romans 6, what shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin
that grace may abound? By no means. How can we who died
to sin still live in it? For that newness of life and
attitude, we give constant praise and thanks to God and as debtors
to His grace, our desire is to be faithful servants of Him as
we follow the example that Jesus Christ has given us. So that
brings us to the first part of verse 12, where Paul writes one
of the most misunderstood verses in all of his writings, work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling. As we look at
verse 12, we note where Paul speaks to the obedience of the
converts there in Philippi, and we see once again where Paul
transitions from writing of Christ's humility, love, and obedience
to now writing about how the Philippians display those same
attributes. He speaks of their faithfulness
both when he was with them or when he was far away. This is
in direct contrast to how other churches, namely the Galatians
and the Corinthian churches, where he had to severely rebuke
them for their falling away. There is no rebuke for the Church
of Philippi because they have not faltered in their love of
and faithfulness to God. He still, though, feels a need
to encourage them to work out their own salvation with fear
and trembling. But what does that mean? work
out your salvation well a few things it does not mean is number
one you cannot work your way into salvation and then number
two no amount of works will help you keep your salvation what
does paul say in ephesians 2 verses 8 and 9 let's turn back a few
pages and read ephesians 2 verses 4 through 10 So we get the full
context of verses eight and nine, as I sure don't remember him
saying anything about our works or our confidence in our own
righteousness is what will bring about our salvation, which would
amount to being a gift from ourselves to ourselves, because what God
has provided for us in Christ, a perfect gift, well, that's
just not enough. So reading and starting in verse
four of Ephesians two, But God, who is rich in mercy because
of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were
dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace,
you have been saved and raised us up together and made us sit
together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the
ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace
and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have
been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is
the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Now that is how, this is how I remember God's salvation being
applied to us. It is certainly not by our works,
but it's by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this,
not from yourselves. It is the gift of God. Not me
to me, because it's not by works, but by grace so that no one can
boast. John Gill had a lot to say about
Paul's words here, and I would like to share just a couple excerpts
I have plagiarized from his writings dealing with this subject of
working out our salvation. Gill writes, work out your salvation
with fear and trembling which is to be understood not in such
a sense as though men could obtain and procure for themselves spiritual
and eternal salvation by their own works and doings for such
a sense is contrary to the scriptures which deny any part of salvation
as election justification calling and the whole of it to be works
would ascribe it to the free grace of God. He goes on to say, moreover was
salvation to be obtained by the works of men. These consequences
would follow. The death of Christ would be
in vain. Boasting would be encouraged
in men. they would have whereof to glory,
and their obligations to obedience taken from the love of God. And
redemption by Christ would be weakened and destroyed. Add to
all this that the scriptures assure us that salvation is alone
by Christ, and that it is already finished by him, and not to be
wrought out now by him or any other, and that such is the weakness
and impotence of men, even of believers, to whom this exhortation
is directed, that it is impossible for them to ever to affect it.
Therefore, whatever sense these words have, we may be sure that
this can never possibly be the sense of them." So as Mr. Gill has laid out here, it's
important to see that Paul is not telling them to work for
their salvation, it simply implies and need to live out, to practice,
to demonstrate, and exhibit the salvation which believers have
in Christ, which was the true gift from God. Then for any who
might have lingering thoughts that working out your salvation
means that it is up to you to do the works it takes to keep
your salvation, may I simply point out the verse in Philippians
1 verse 6 that says, being confident of this very thing, that he who
has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day
of Jesus Christ. And then the words of Paul to
Timothy in second Timothy, for this reason, I also suffer these
things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed
for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able
to keep what I have committed to him until that day. This verse was the inspiration
for a wonderful hymn that we sing here on occasion and have
these words contained in the lyrics. I know not how this saving
faith to me he did impart, nor how believing in his word wrought
peace within my heart. These words provide a perfect
segue into the next thing we will look at with fear and trembling,
because they dispute one of the main uses of these few words,
which is to try to scare people into being diligent in their
good works or risk losing their salvation. That, of course, directly
contradicts Paul's many exhortations to peace of mind courage, and
confidence in the God who is the author of our salvation.
The fruit of the spirits from Galatians 5 have the first three
listed being love, joy, and peace, all of which would be contrary
to the normal understanding of fear and trembling. In Colossians
3, Paul says this, let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts
and sense as members of one body you are called to peace and be
thankful. So in other words, worship him
with all your heart, body, and soul, and do so with joy and
gladness, being always thankful for the peace that he gives.
The Greek word translated fear in this context can equally mean
reverence or respect. The trembling he is speaking
of here is the attitude of true Christians will have as a result
of respect for his majesty and holiness. There are several places
in scripture where the words fear and trembling are used to
demonstrate how awe and respect would be the true meaning. Paul
in 2nd Corinthians speaks of Titus being encouraged by the
Corinthians' reception of him with fear and trembling. In other
words, they were showing great respect and humility towards
Titus because of his position as a minister of the gospel of
Jesus Christ. Psalm 211 is another verse that
speaks of fear and trembling, saying, serve the Lord with fear
and rejoice with trembling. And here's just a small part
of what Mr. Gill had to say about this verse. But this fear and
trembling spoken of is consistent with the highest acts of faith,
trust, confidence, and joy. and is opposed to pride and vainglory,
and intends modesty and humility, which is what the apostle is
pressing for throughout the whole context, and here urges to a
cheerful and constant obedience to Christ with all the humility
of soul, without dependence on it or vaingloring in it, ascribing
it wholly to the grace of God. So that is the crux of it. We
serve a holy, all sovereign God. We do that, as Mr. Gill says,
with modesty and humbleness. So many churches and people just
look at God as their buddy, their best friend, someone who would
be fun to go out after work and have a beer with. But he is the
creator of all that is and ruler of all that he created. So is
it. Is it too much to ask, too much
to expect, that we are to serve and worship Him with reverence
and joy? As the psalmist said in Psalm
100, worship the Lord with gladness, come before Him with joyful songs. That is a short version of what
Mr. Gill has said. We are encouraged
constantly to follow the example of Christ as He set the supreme
example when he left his place in glory from the heavens above
and came to this earth and did not, even though he could have,
see equality with God, something to be grasped. But he instead
took on the very likeness of man and served with all humility
and obedience even to the death on the cross. As a result of
all that, he was raised up to the heavens. And what do verses
9 through 11 of this second chapter of Philippians say, reading verses
nine through 11, therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed
on him the name that is above every name so that the name of
Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under
the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to
the glory of God the Father. truly one who deserves to be
served in reverence and awe. So as we work out our salvation
while looking at the face of this highly exalted one with
the name, as Brother Wayne pointed out, he had the name above all
other names, the name that every knee will bow to and every tongue
will confess that he, Jesus Christ, is Lord with all the glory of
God the Father. Serve the Lord with fear and
rejoice with trembling. We work out our salvation by
going to the very source of our salvation, the word of God, wherein
we renew our hearts and minds and approach his presence with
a spirit of reverence, awe, and confidence. Yes, we do so with
all reverence while praising him in song and prayer. And how
can we possibly do that with fear or reverence or an attitude
and do so giving it proper justice? Well, let's look at verse 13
for the answer. I'm going to pick up reading
with verse 12 once again so that we have the full context of verse
13. Therefore, 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. And then in verse 13, for it
is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good
pleasure. Once again, we are faced with
the truth. What we have been talking about,
these things we are to do, but yet it is not something we can
do ourselves. It is God who works in his elect
to will and do for his good pleasure. Let's look at Ephesians chapter
2. I want to look at verses 8 and 9 and 10 once again. Because
God so loved us that he gave us our love for him and it is
through that act of grace that we are made to differ. It is
by that God-given love we have for him that we have the desire
to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, with awe
and reverence that we have for him. Ephesians 2 verse 8 says
this, for it is by grace you have been saved through faith.
And this is not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by
works so that no one can boast. For we are God's handiwork created
in Christ, just Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in
advance for us to do. So all that we've been talking
about, these are just part of the works that God has prepared
in advance for us to do. And part of that is as we work
out our salvation, keeping in mind always just how great our
Lord God is as he has provided for us in all things. Verse 5
of Philippians 2 speaks to that need for us to have the same
mind, the same attitude as Christ who left his station in glory
And even though he was God, he took on the form of human likeness.
Well, you know what the amazing thing for us is? When God saves
us, he gives us a new nature, a nature that gives us the attitude
of wanting to be sure of our calling and election. But then
he himself works on us to will and to act according to his good
purpose. And as we read what Paul has
stated, what God has started in us, he will finish. That segues
right to the next part of our text, Philippians 2.14 and 15,
which they tell us this, do all things without grumbling or disputing
that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without
blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation then you
will shine among them like stars in the sky. Do all things without
grumbling or disputing. And we are still talking about
making our calling and election sure. As we have mentioned, we
should have this attitude of being willing and joyful servants. So grumbling and disputing is
exactly opposite to that, as we instead should always be working
out our calling and election with fear and trembling, or as
we have already spoke to, with joy and full reverence of our
Lord God. Verse 14 goes on to say, so that
we may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish. Now that is truly asking a lot. There are at least two ways this
can pertain to our daily walk. We live in a sinful world and
as we Ourselves have sinful flesh, but our goal should be to live
a life in a way explicitly different from the depraved world we once
were part of. So, number one, we do not want
to be seen as one who does not live much of a Christian life.
We are children of God, and we want to emulate the example of
Christ as much as possible. I know we all fall short of that. But as we have already mentioned,
and this is number two, if you truly love God, your desire is
to please him by following the pattern of Christ. As the Apostle
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 11, follow my example as
I follow the example of Christ. Now we know that Paul also suffered
with that battle between the spirit the flesh as he brings
out in Romans 7 when he declares I have the desire to do what
is good but I cannot carry it out for I do not do the good
I want to do but the evil I do not want to do this I keep on
doing but what is his answer trust in the promises of God
what a wretched man I am who will rescue me from this body
of death Thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ,
our Lord. Paul had great confidence in
God's ability to deliver such a wretched man, and so should
we. And we should know that as children of God, that confidence
is not misplaced. And as a result of that, we look
at the final part of this study, the end of verse 15, where we
shine as lights in the world. And we ask ourselves, what does
that mean? Many, many years ago, when I
was first coming to grasp with the doctrines of grace, I heard
a sermon while visiting a church in Portland, preached on this
verse in Philippians 2. I was a babe in the doctrines
of grace at that time, but I knew that something was not ringing
true. a very works-oriented sermon
on how it was our actions, our private thoughts, whether at
home and alone or at work or with friends, it was all me,
me, me that caused us to shine like the stars in the sky. Well, we definitely are not antinomian
here, but we know that no amount of works done by us on our own
volition will ever produce even one mini watt of light, let alone
match the stars in the universe. So as we wrap this up for today,
I would like to look at just a few verses of scripture that
help us understand how we would shine like the stars in the night
sky. Let's begin in the book of Ephesians,
starting with chapter five and verses eight and nine. As you
were turning there, it is good to remember back in Ephesians
2, where it tells us that we were all in the darkness of sin
and death, living our lives in accordance with the ruler of
the kingdom of the night, living a life of self-gratification.
By nature, we were deserving of God's wrath. But God, by His
grace, caused us to see the light who is Christ. What does that
entail? Well, let's read chapter 5, Ephesians
8 and 9 to see what God's word says. Verse 8, For you were once darkness,
but now you are the light in the Lord. Walk as children of
light, for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness,
and truth. We were once darkness, but now
we are light in the Lord. Did we do anything to bring about
that transformation? No, we did not. Now let's drop
down to verse 14 and see what it says. Therefore he says, awake
you who sleep, arise from the dead and Christ will give you
light. Christ will give us light. We
did not choose to be born either physically or spiritually and
in the same way, We did not choose light over the darkness we were
lost in and thought we enjoyed. It is God who purposed to deliver
us from that darkness and place us in the light of Jesus, our
Savior. And once again, that all happened
way back before the beginning of time. So one more, if you'd
like to turn to 2 Corinthians 4, we'll be reading verse 6. Now we could go clear back to
Genesis chapter 1 and look at many different ways at how each
part of the creation story speaks to God's plan for redeeming for
himself a people. But in this verse of 2 Corinthians
4, Paul harkens back to Genesis 1 verse 16, giving us a good
start if we ever did want to do a study like that. So Genesis 1-16, it says this,
for God who said, let light shine out of the darkness. That act
of God is a picture of God's light shining in our hearts to
give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed as stars
in the night. If you go further through Genesis,
it talks about God giving the sun and the moon and the stars
in the sky as rulers over his kingdom. But Paul is describing
the gospel message here as what brings us to the knowledge of
God and the Son. When God said, let the light
shine out of darkness, is a picture of the gospel message separating
the light from the darkness. As he says in Romans 1, the gospel
is the power of God unto salvation. And what is also important here
is that the knowledge of God and the Son causes his light
to shine in our hearts, removing the darkness and giving us the
light of Christ in us. When we look at Philippians chapter
two, that is critical to understanding what is being said there. Okay,
just one more of what could be many. Let's take a quick look
at John chapter eight and verse 12. So verse 12 of chapter eight
comes right after Jesus deals with the woman who had committed
adultery and those who would accuse her. Christ showed in
his own way how light reveals sin. As he kneeled down and wrote
on the ground and one by one, each of her accusers walked away
as Christ, the light of the world, revealed his knowledge of their
sin to each one of them. He later spoke to the people
saying in verse 12 here, when Jesus spoke again to the people,
he said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will
never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. That
light of life plays a very prominent role in our understanding of
Philippians 2. As we return back there one more
time, Because that statement that says, then you will shine
among them like stars in the sky, does not mean our works
is creating the light. It is the light of Christ and
us shining forth. As the moon reflects the light
of the sun, so do the children of God reflect the light of the
sun, S-O-N. Yes, our faith brings us works
as joyful servants of God, but they are not what make our calling
and election sure. That was all done before the
beginning of time, as we know it, when the Godhead met in the
eternal council halls and purposed that God, all for His glory and
namesake, would redeem for Himself a people by sending His one and
only Son to die for His sheep on the cross. So God has promised
that what he has begun as the author and perfecter of our faith,
he will bring to conclusion. And our part is the worshiping
and praising him every day. It is he though that does the
work in us both to will and to work for his good pleasure. So
to close, I would once again like to end
with a chorus from the hymn, His Robes for Mine, as it proclaims
that our praise, that our all shall be for Christ and Him alone. It goes like this, I cling to
Christ and marvel at the cost. Jesus forsaken, God estranged
from God, bought by such love, my love is not my own. My praise,
my all shall be for Christ alone. So that brings us to the conclusion
of the study, and I thank you for your time.