Well we're continuing in the
epistle to the Philippians this morning, we started it four or
five weeks ago, and we come now into chapter 2. You might wonder
where did the words of that hymn come from, you know, did a man
just make it up? No, look, in verse 6, Jesus Christ,
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, and
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. that's
where it comes from, that's where this message comes from, to the
law and the testimony. If they speak not according to
this word, all their religion, all this world's religion, all
that that calls itself Christianity, there is no light in them if
they speak not according to this word. Now last week we saw an
exhortation from the apostle to these Greeks, these Philippians
in northern Greece, He loved these people and they loved him,
and they were united in bonds of love in the fellowship of
the gospel, and he exhorted them to gospel precepts as he exhorts
all of God's people. In the day in which we live we
saw in verse 27 of chapter 1, only let your conversation, your
life, your demeanor of life be as it becometh, as it's conformity
with the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you or
else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast
in one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith
of the gospel." The faith of the gospel, that is the thing. That is the thing, that is what
this world is crying out for. It doesn't know it. The more
and more it goes on in its blindness and ignorance of the things of
God, it doesn't realize that the one thing above all else
that it needs is this gospel, the faith of the gospel of grace. So in chapter 2 he's calling
again for unity, verses 1 to 5, if there be any consolation,
well what he means is as there is consolation in Christ, if
there be any consolation, of course there's consolation in
Christ, there's the consolation of salvation, effectual salvation
accomplished. If any comfort of love, of course,
Love is comforting in Christ. If any fellowship of the Spirit,
fellowship with God and fellowship between the people of God, if
any bowels and mercies, if any compassion for one another, fulfill
ye my joy, that ye, you believers, be like-minded. having the same
love. You know, as they say for political
parties, the worst thing for a political party is disunity,
because disunity will always lead to defeat in elections.
Well, far more so in the kingdom of God. He's calling for unity
amongst those who are united with Christ from before the beginning
of time. Be ye like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord,
of one mind, Don't think about the things that you do. Let nothing
be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind. Look,
what about this compared with the philosophy of this world
today? In lowliness of mind, let each of you esteem the other
better than themselves. Oh, you know the television adverts
that we see all the time? You're worth it. Oh, you're so
high. Oh, you're so important. Oh,
you're so good. No, let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of others. Is there
an example of this? Of this unity? Of this self-abasement? Of this humility of spirit? Remember
the Sermon on the Mount? Blessed are the meek. Blessed
are the humble, those who are contrite, those who are lowly.
This is what his word calls for, humility, esteem and care for
others. Is there a motive for this? What
is the motive? Is the motive for this the law
of God, where God calls in his law, in his commandments, in
the Ten Commandments, for people to behave a certain way? Not to kill one another, because
there's a law that says you shall not kill. And if you do, then
there'll be a punishment for it. There's a law that says you
shall not steal. Oh, I better not steal then,
I better not steal. No, it's not the law that is the believer's
rule of life. If it was, surely here the apostle
would use law as the motivation for this. No, what does he use? Read on in verse 5. Let this
mind be in you. I know many of you who listen
to me often will say that there's barely a week goes by without
I quote this passage of Scripture because it's so crucial. It's
so key to understanding the truth. Let this mind be in you. Allow
this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who is God in
flesh, who being in the form of God in eternity, in eternal
glory with God the Father and God the Spirit, He is in the
form of God. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. He took nothing away from God.
He stole nothing from the Godhead that wasn't rightly His, for
He is God. The Lord Jesus Christ is not
a God, an inferior God, a created... No, He is very God, a very God. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. He was in the highest position
in the universe, the very, very pinnacle of the universe. But
look, verse 7. made himself of no reputation. He who is God
above all made himself, did he? Of course he did, you read the
accounts in the Gospels. The Jews, the Pharisees, the
people generally despised him most of the time, paid no attention
to him, made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of
a king, a prince, no, no, a servant. the form of a servant, and was
made, he who is God, was made in the likeness of men. And being
found in fashion as a man, he looked like a man, he walked
like a man, he ate and slept like a man, he had feelings like
a man, he wept at the grave of Lazarus. Being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death."
Obedient to whom? obedient to the will of God.
For what was the will of God? That all of the people that the
Father had given to the Son before the beginning of time, that Christ
should lose none. How is it that He would not lose
any? Answer, He would go to the cross,
He would bear their sin, He would pay its penalty, He would suffer
the eternal wrath of God for their sin, and thereby the justice
of God would be satisfied, so that He could make His people
the righteousness of God in Him. Wherefore, because He did this,
God In heaven, the unseeable, unknowable God in heaven 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,
at things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the
earth. That's not the first time in this sermon, this morning,
in this service, that you've heard that verse. We read it
in Isaiah 45 verse 23 as well. Exactly the same words there.
Give or take. God saying that every knee should
bow to Him, to God, and that God will not share His glory
with another. This is God. Come. to save his people from
their sins. It is that that constrains the
people of God to live according to this call to let our conversation
be as becometh the gospel. It isn't the constraint of law,
you know, the threat of punishment, or the promise of some reward
and an extra jewel in your crown. No, no, no. You know, I was mentioning
last week the difference between volunteers and pressed men. Volunteers
want to do it. They do what they do because
they want to do it. They believe in the cause. They
fight for the cause. Pressed men, those who've had
their arms twisted up their back against their will, that's the
difference between law being the motivation and the grace
of God. What is it that constrains the people of God to live in
accordance, their conversation to be as become, but becometh
the gospel of Christ? The Word of God tells us, it's
the love of Christ that constrains us. It's not the law, it's the
love of Christ. It's not the threat of punishment,
it's the love of Christ that constrains His people. Why are
they volunteers? They've had a heart change. They've
had a desire change. They're owned by the living God.
He talks, Jesus in his ministry talks about my sheep. My sheep
hear my voice. I care for my sheep. I lose one
of them. I go out looking for them. He
talks about my garden in the Song of Solomon. I go down to
my garden. It's his garden. You know how much gardeners love
their gardens. Jesus says the same. God says
the same about his people, about his church. My garden. They're
not hirelings. This is God. The hireling is
the one employed to look after the sheep, and he doesn't really
care, because when the wolf comes, he runs away. But no, the one
whose sheep they are, he stays with them. You know, this idea
of ownership, God owning his people, and his people owning
their God. You see that theme again and
again in the Scripture. And the motive is looking unto
Jesus, as Hebrews chapter 12 says, let us run the race that
is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith. So, child of God, if such you
are, Let us follow Paul in looking for a moment at Christ our motivation. Now, as I say, you might wonder
what else I can find to say about this. I quote it so often, these
verses 5 to 11 that I read just before. But the mind of Christ,
let this mind be in you. not by fleshly improvement, but
by God's Spirit working within. Peter read to us earlier in 1
Corinthians chapter 2, verses 5 to 16. I won't go back there
now, but go there yourself and read again about the revelation
that is the gift of God, that comes from God's Spirit, that
the natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God.
They're foolishness to him. Neither can he know them. Why?
Because they're spiritually discerned. Where do you get spiritual discernment?
You ask God for it. You wait on the grace of God,
the mercy of God, to give it and to show it, and to give you,
as Paul said at the end of that chapter in 1 Corinthians chapter
2, to give you the mind of Christ. The same thought process as Christ. The mind, the thoughts, the philosophy
of the heaven-born man. You must be born again, said
Jesus to Nicodemus. You must be born. Why must I
be born again? Because if you're not born again,
there's no new man inside. And God will not have anything
in his heaven which is of the flesh, which is defiled, which
is sinful. No. Paul is not speaking to the
flesh to get it to improve. He's speaking to the new man
of the Spirit. He's exhorting us. You know,
other epistles talk about the new man versus the old man. Put
on the new, put off the old. Wear it like a new garment. If
you're born again of the Spirit of God, put on that new nature
of God, that new nature which cannot sin. Oh, the old man sins
all the time. If we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But the new man
is that new man of God, which we should promote, which we should
promote to subdue the old man of the flesh. No. Law can't threaten
the new man with any loss. The law can't say to the new
man of God, born of God's Spirit, if you don't do this you will
lose such and such a reward. Why? Because the scripture tells
us, Romans 8 verse 1, there is therefore now no condemnation. to those who are in Christ. Who's
going to bring any charge to God's elect? Christ has died
in their place. No, there is nothing that the
law can do to threaten. There is nothing that anybody
can bring as an accusation against the people of God who believe
the Lord Jesus Christ. You say, how do you know that?
What is the work that we should do? The Pharisees asked the Lord
Jesus Christ, what is the work that we should do to do the works
of God? You can see it in John chapter
6 verse 29. He says this, this is the work
of God that you believe on the one whom he has sent. You believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the work of God. That
is the work of God. Don't we make the law of God,
the justice of God void through this thing that we call faith?
No, rather, Rather than making it void, we establish it through
faith. The eternal purposes of God are
only established through the faith that he gives to his people
in the Lord Jesus Christ. No. Look at me, at Christ, the
forerunner, is what the scripture is saying to us. Look at the
author and finisher of our faith. Look at what your salvation cost. What did it cost to save a sinner
from their sins? To save someone. You see, we're
told in Hebrews to follow after holiness. Without which, are
you holy? Without holiness you shall not
see God. Oh, I'm pretty good, I've done
this, that. No, no, no, no, you're talking about flesh, fleshly
goodness. No, that's not good enough for
God. You must be as good as God is. You must be as perfect as
God is. Where do I get that from? You will never get it in the
flesh. You will never get it by law works, by striving to
think that you're making yourself better and better, not in the
slightest. How do you get it? By faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. For he who knew no sin was made
sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. It's there and there alone that
you will get the righteousness that God requires, to admit anyone
into his heaven, for nothing that defileth, read Revelation,
nothing that defileth will be allowed therein. This is precious,
the salvation that has been accomplished for the people of God by the
Lord Jesus Christ. He gave an example of utter,
ultimate self-denial for the benefit of others, for the benefit
of his people. So, believer, or not you, This
is God the Son. This is the Father's obedient
servant, doing all His Father's will to lose none of His sheep. You know, this is my Father's
will. What's the Father's will? That I should lose none of all
that He has given me. All the sheep, as He calls His
people, that He has given Him, that He should lose none. And
he gives the parable about when he does lose one, metaphorically,
the 99 out of the 100, and he goes off, and he goes through
whatever it takes to bring that one missing one back to himself.
No, he will not lose one. He is the one who came in the
place, the substitute of his people. He fulfilled the law
of God, the righteousness of God on behalf of His people.
He magnified the law of God. He magnified the holiness of
God. He paid His people's law debt. He propitiated, He turned
away the anger of God for His people when His blood was shed
for the sin of His people. Why His blood? Because the life
is in the blood. The soul that sins, it shall
die. He shed His blood. He poured
out His lifeblood in the places of His people, so that the justice
of God is maintained entirely, and God is, as we read in Isaiah
45, a just God and a Saviour. He is a just God and a Saviour. He is just as Romans 3 26 thereabouts says, he is just
and the justifier of those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
He has redeemed his people from the curse of the law. Redeemed?
He's paid that redemption price. They're in bondage to the law
and its curse, but he's redeemed his people. Galatians chapter
3 verse 13, Christ has redeemed his people from the curse of
the law. How? By he himself being made that
curse for us as our substitute in our place. And he has finished
salvation. What did he cry on the cross?
Just before he gave up the ghost, the spirit, he cried, it is finished
in a loud voice. That man broken by those nails
and that cross, that cruel Roman means of torture and death, he
cried out, it is finished. Not I am finished, he cried out,
it is finished. What is finished? Everything
required of the justice of God to save His people from their
sins. It's throughout this book. It's
not a New Testament thing alone. The New Testament makes explicit
that which is implicit throughout the Old Testament. In the prophet
Habakkuk, verse 13, we read there, He went, thou wentest forth,
God went forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation,
how? With thine anointed. Jesus Christ
is the anointed one of God. He is the one that went out for
the salvation of his people. He came into this earth. A body
was prepared that he might accomplish the salvation of his people.
It's pictured in so many ways. You could think of the account
of Abraham going out to rescue Lot when Lot was captured. It's
pictures throughout the scripture of how God saves his people from
their sins. because of love and because of
the grace of God. For the joy that was set before
him, he says, before the joy that was set before him, he suffered
and endured the pain that he might have the glory, the joy
that was set before him. What's the joy set before him?
Behold, he says, behold I and the children whom the Father
has given me. Behold, it says, lift up your
heads O ye gates, and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors, and
the King of glory shall come in. Who is the King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle, when he
went out and died on the cross and defeated Satan there. But
then it goes on, it says, lift up your heads, O ye gates. and
be ye lift up ye everlasting doors and the King of Glory shall
come in. Who is the King of Glory? The Lord of hosts. Here he is
with his saved multitude that no man can number. Salvation
accomplished. And there he is. Look at verse
9 of chapter 2 of Philippians. Wherefore God also has highly
exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, no
higher name in this universe. No higher name, that at the name
of Jesus, Savior is what that means, Joshua, the name of Jesus,
every knee should bow. That's your name, as well as
mine. That at the name of Jesus, every
knee should bow. of things in heaven, of things
in earth, and things under the earth, wherever you are after
this life, you will bow to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And your tongue, every tongue, should confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Wherefore, my beloved,
as ye have always obeyed, not in my presence also, but now
much more in my absence, work out your own salvation. We'll
come on to that in a minute. But there it is. He's exalted.
He's preeminent. He's triumphant. Do you understand
it? Do you understand it? Do I understand
it? There's a hymn that says this,
when this passing world is done, when has sunk yon glaring sun,
when we stand with Christ on high, looking all life's history,
then Lord, then Lord, shall I fully know, not till then, how much
I owe, what it cost to save a soul, Can you look by faith on Him,
on God made man, paying your sins' debt to the justice of
God in such humiliation? and your new man of grace not
desire to do his will and imitate his example? Can you still, look
at verse 3, let nothing be done through strife or vain glory?
Can you still look at him, having seen what he's done, and want
to do anything through strife or vain glory? The flesh will,
because the flesh is fallen, the flesh is sinful, the flesh
is selfish, the flesh is self-righteous, but the Spirit won't. So then,
let's come on to this bit that I wanted to get to, which is,
wherefore work out. Verse 12, verses 12 and 13. Wherefore,
my beloved, as ye 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. What faith sees
that Christ has done must have a result. Must have. You know,
faith looks and sees what Christ has done, and it must have a
result. Look, it says, as you have always
obeyed, not in my presence only, but now much more in my absence.
Obeying what? Obeying gospel precepts. Obeying
that style of life that the gospel calls for. You know, save from
your sins in this gracious salvation, and yet we look to that and we
follow the example and we obey gospel precepts, motivated also
by Paul's situation for the gospel. There he is, he's in bonds in
prison, he's under house arrest in Rome. And look what he's done,
look, this man who so persecuted the Church of God until he was
converted on the road to Damascus, and he's now, his entire life
has been devoted to this. He says, work out your own salvation. Now, those words are so misunderstood
by religion. Because religion says, there
you go, work out your own salvation, now it's over to you. God's given
you a leg up so far, now it's over to you to do the rest yourself.
Surely it means now that you've had the start, it's over to you
to work to ensure that you're saved from your sins. And religionists,
as I've already said, they say that the law of Moses is the
believer's rule of life. It's as if God sets traps in
his word for the unbelieving. It doesn't mean that at all.
It doesn't mean that at all. It doesn't mean work your salvation,
work to accomplish your salvation, work to earn your salvation. It doesn't mean that at all.
It's as Job says, Job chapter 5 and verse 13, speaking of God,
he says, he taketh the wise in their own craftiness. The wisdom
of this world, you know, it says in 1 Corinthians 1, that in the
wisdom of this world, the world by its own wisdom knew not God,
for it pleased God. to save through His wisdom. It's the wisdom of God that brings
salvation. Those who willfully neglect and
deny gospel truth, they find this, as Romans 11, verses 8
and 9 says, God has given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that
they should not see, and ears that they should not hear. Do
you know as the gospel of God's truth is preached, you need to
be aware of this, That as that gospel is preached, there's a
great divide. It is to some, the savour, the
taste of life unto life. And to others, it's the taste
of death unto death. It's a bitter, horrible taste.
They want nothing of it. They think it's rubbish. They
think it's foolishness. They despise anybody that agrees
with it. There's that complete polarisation
of response to the gospel of God's grace. It's to many, as
Peter says, and again he's quoting what's in the rest of Scripture
time and time again, that the idea of Christ, God, coming as
a man to die in the place of people and save them from their
sins with no effort from themselves, it's a stone of stumbling. It's
a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being
disobedient, unbelieving, whereunto also they were appointed. This
is the Word of God that's saying these things. So then what does
Paul mean by work out your own salvation? He can't mean anything
to do with working to contribute to your salvation. Salvation
is complete. You read 2 Timothy chapter 1
and verse 9 speaking of God who has saved us, has saved us, not
is in the process of, has saved us and called us with a holy
calling. It was given to us before the beginning of time. It is
finished. As I said, many preach God has set the ball rolling.
Now it's up to you to finish the job and get ready for heaven.
So who gets the glory if it's up to you and you get to heaven?
Who gets the glory if it's up to you and you get to heaven?
Answer, you get the glory, or at least you must get some of
it. But do you know what God says? I am the Lord and my glory
I will not share with another. God will not share his glory
with another. God will not share the glory,
his glory with another. That's why we know that the Lord
Jesus Christ is God. He prayed before he went to the
cross. He prayed, Father, restore to
me the glory that I had with you from before the beginning.
God will not share his glory with another. The Lord Jesus
Christ is God. This is not living that he's
calling for, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
This is not living to add to Christ's saving work. it is rather
living out the consequences of the salvation that God has wrought
within. Turn back one page to the verse
that we started this study of Philippians with. Philippians
1 verse 6, Paul is rejoicing in the fellowship that he has
with these Philippians that he sees so rarely and he would love
to see again. But he's confident of this, verse
6, being confident of this very thing, that he, he's speaking
of God, that God, which has begun a good work in you, will perform
it until the day of Jesus Christ. It's God's work, his salvation.
God will work in you to perform that and complete that which
he begun. Verse 13, for it is God which
worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
What is the work that God works in his people? What is the work
that God works in his people? I told you earlier, John 6, 29,
The Pharisees asked Jesus, in that long chapter, they asked
Him, what must we do to do the works of God? And He said, this
is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent. Faith is the work of God. Faith,
and it is God's work, but it's worked out. It's God that works
in you, faith, and it's worked out in how you live it out. The
soul works out. In other words, the soul experiences,
it feels, And as it is, you know, there's that text in Proverbs
that says, as a man thinketh, so he is. As you think inside
you, in your heart, so you are. The Spirit of God puts that truth
of Christ, that gospel precept, principle, within. We experience
it, we feel it, and we live it out. It's God that works in you,
both to will and to do of His good pleasure. You work out that
which God has worked in. What has God worked in? What
things has God worked in? The one who believes the gospel
of grace. Number one, he's worked in a
sense of sin. You know, everybody tries to
think how good they are. Do you know You know, we need to understand
what it is to be under the gaze of the living God who is holy,
to know what we are as sinners before the living God. God works
that sense within His people that they're sinners before Him.
When we see something of the holiness and majesty of the living
God and then see what we are, it brings us to repentance of
our sin. O wretched man that I am, the
prophet Isaiah, you know. Woe is me, I am undone. Woe is
me to see what I am in the light of the glory and the holiness
of God. This is how holy he's described
in scripture. The holy sinless beings, the
cherubim and seraphim, that we cannot understand. They're beyond
our physical sense and our comprehension, yet they veil their faces before
the holiness of God. And what am I? As the hymn says,
worms and dust, for such a worm as I. To confess that we're sinners,
you know what that hymn says, that other hymn? A sinner is
a sacred thing. Oh, you say, that sounds completely
contradictory. A sinner's a vile thing in the
sight of God. No, a sinner is a sacred thing. A sinner who
knows he's a sinner. All are sinners. All have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God. Since the fall, all. But
there's only those taught by the Spirit of God that they're
sinners who know it. A sinner who knows he's a sinner
is a sacred thing. Why? The Holy Ghost has made
him so. and this confession, and this
godly sorrow that results. And God works light in the soul,
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. God who shined in the darkness
to say, let there be light, has shined in our hearts, 2 Corinthians
4 verse 6, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Oh, what a sight. Have you seen that? Have you
had any glimpse of it? The soul works that out in belief,
in believing Christ, in experiencing redemption, in resting on the
satisfaction accomplished. This is it! It's not just, oh
well that's nice and good, let's file that away for when we go
to heaven. No, now, living out, work out
your own salvation that God has worked in you, that He has begun
and is working in you until the day of Jesus Christ. trusting
in Christ, following Him, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith, obeying the Spirit's leading. So God works in. What does He work in? Self-denial. Self-denial. So little of that
in this evil world, isn't there? The soul works out esteem for
others. No, we read about that, didn't
we? Esteem others better than themselves. Why? It's the salvation
which God has wrought in being worked out in the behaviour,
in the attitude that we have to all other things. And it's
all possible because God has created a new man within, with
spiritual discernment. The natural man, 1 Corinthians
chapter 2, verse 14, the natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God. Everybody that we come across
who has no knowledge of the things of God, they don't receive the
things of the Spirit of God. You won't ever persuade them
by intellect, by rational reasoning. You won't ever persuade them
of things like that. You won't ever persuade them
that things didn't evolve, but God created. You won't ever do
that, yeah? The natural man cannot receive
these things. It's the gift of God. They're
received by spiritual discernment, and that spiritual discernment
is the gift of God. That discernment that God gives,
that the flesh does not naturally have. And so, when it comes,
to, you know, why we understand. If you have faith in God, why
you understand what the whole of the rest of the world thinks
you're a complete fool for thinking, and that is that the worlds were
framed by God. Why do we believe that? By faith.
Hebrews 1, Hebrews 11, verse 2. By faith we understand these
things. By faith, by the spiritual discernment
given by the Spirit of God. Work them out, he says, with
fear and trembling. Fear, with fear. Not fear of
judgment, not fear of condemnation, but respect, respect, honour. Submission to, not presumption. A bit like the fear that Moses
had. I exceedingly fear and quake when you see the majesty of God. You don't, I don't, but you know,
he did, he did, and we will one day. Isaiah said, woe is me. Daniel, Daniel, that prophet
of which not a... You know, other people in the
Scriptures, the Scripture's perfectly honest about the sinners that
they were. We don't hear a negative word about Daniel, the prophet. And he said this when he saw
that vision of the Lord Jesus Christ. before He came to earth,
He said, My loveliness is turned to corruption. I'm just melted. I just collapse before Him. This is the reverence of sons
in the presence of majesty. Not the dread of impending wrath,
We're bidden to come boldly to the throne of grace, as Hebrews
4.16 says. If we're bidden to come, no,
no, it's not that kind of fear of the dread of judgment, but
it's confident that He who has a name which is above every name
He who has a name which is above every name, yeah, we read that
there, yeah? Verse nine, a name which is above
every name, there's nothing higher, you know, oh, you better beware
of that man, he's very, he's nothing compared to the living
God, the eternal God. He that has a name which is above
every name says of his believing people, do you know what he says
of his believing people? he calls them his brethren. When
he rose from the dead, he said to the women, he said, go and
tell my brethren that I'll meet them in Galilee. Go and tell
my brothers. This is God speaking of sinners that he saved. He says in John chapter 15, he
says, I call you no longer servants, He says, I've told you everything
that my father's told me. I call you no longer servants.
You are my friends. Friends. He whose name is above
every name calls his people his brethren and his friends. Why
does he do these things? To will and to do of his good
pleasure. To will and to do of his good
pleasure. In the epistle to the Ephesians,
chapter 2 and verse 10, if I can just turn over there, listen.
You know he says, well let's start at verse 8, by grace are
ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift
of God. Even your faith is not because you're better than anybody
else. It's the gift of God if you have faith. Without faith
it's impossible to please God. No, it's not of works lest any
man should boast. Paul look, this is the verse,
verse 10, for we are his, God's workmanship. created in Christ
Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that
we should walk in them. Work out your own salvation with
fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to
will and to do of his good pleasure. This working of God within is
all of grace, not of works, not of man's will, not of man's ability.
So let's summarize, because time has gone. Are you God's child
by grace? Have you seen the light by Spirit
revelation? Is there a new man within? Because
if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His,
says Romans chapter 8. If so, you'll experience its
reality in your heart. and your soul will sense and
respond to the inner workings of God's Spirit. And you work
it out with fear and trembling, conscious of what it cost to
save your soul, constrained by the love of Christ, willingly
volunteering, not as pressed men, willingly volunteering,
despite the flesh, to follow, looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher. Or is your belief mere head knowledge
of these things that isn't worked out because God has in reality
not worked in you. Examine yourself whether you
be in the faith. Amen.