Now really this second chapter
of Ephesians, or rather Philippians, the first fourteen verses can
be divided into three parts, and that's the way I want to
approach this study tonight. We're going to look at verse
1 for a little while, and then we're going to look at verse
2 through 4, and then the next 9 or 10 verses. Now the key to the second chapter,
the only reason we're not trying to cover the whole chapter, the
whole chapter deals with the same subject, all 30 verses. But the reason I'm not trying
to deal with the whole chapter is not because of a natural division,
but because we just don't have the time to look at the entire
chapter. But the key to the second chapter
of Philippians, that is the whole chapter, The key to this whole
chapter is verse 2, 3, and 4. This is what it's all about,
right here in verse 2, 3, and 4. Let's look at that a moment. Fulfill ye my joy that you be
like-minded, that's the general head, having the same love being
of one accord, being of one mind, let nothing be done through strife
or vain glory, but in humility of mind let each esteem other
better than themselves, and look not every man on his own things,
but every man on the things or interests of others." That's
what the entire chapter is all about. Paul is exhorting believers
to Christian unity, a real sincere unity. He is exhorting believers
to a sincere love for one another. He is exhorting believers to
a genuine humility, not a feigned humility, a genuine humility. And then he's exhorting believers
to have real concern for one another and to go about caring
for one another. Now then, whenever you present,
when you present arguments for certain things such as unity,
love, humility, you usually precede it with a reason. For example,
our Lord said to the disciples, if you love me, you'll keep my
commandments." Now he was exhorting them to keep his commandments,
and he based it on this, if you love me, you will. And then John
wrote over in 1 John, if they had been of us, they no doubt
would have continued with us. Now what John is pointing out
is that people who continue in the faith are of the faith, And
those who do not continue in the faith, the reason is they're
not of the faith. If they had been of us, they
would have continued with us. And then Paul wrote on the book
of Hebrews, if you are of the household of Christ, you'll hold
fast the faith. If you don't hold fast the faith,
it's because you're not of the household of faith. So when these
writers in the Holy Scripture present an argument or present
a duty, a responsibility, they usually base it on some foundation,
give you a reason for that, and that's what verse 1 deals with.
Now look at verse 1. Remember what we're trying to
do. The apostle is calling for love and unity and humility. The apostle is appealing to the
Church to be one in humility, in faith, in love, and in care
and concern for one another. And here's the foundation upon
which he bases it. Look at verse 1. If there be
therefore any consolation in Christ, if there be any comfort
of love, if there be any fellowship of the If there be any vows,
and this is sincere or depths of affection, then you fulfill
my joy and do these various things. You see what I'm saying? When
the apostle appeals to the church or exhorts the church to carry
out certain duties, he gives them a reason why it's expected.
And these are the reasons. Now let's look at them one at
a time. if there be therefore any consolation in Christ." Now
the word consolation comes from two words. These two words are
comfort and exhortation. Now this is important right here.
This comfort or consolation which we have in Christ is not an idle
comfort. But it is a genuine, real comfort
which is based on a real, certain foundation. When Paul was out
in the ship, and the ship was about to sink, and all the experienced
seamen aboard that vessel knew that it was going to sink, Paul
stood in the midst of them and he said, Sir, be of good courage,
be of good cheer. There stood by me tonight, this
night, the angel of the Lord, whom I serve and whose I am. And he said to me, the ship will
go down, but not one life will be lost. Therefore I exhort you,
I exhort you, be of good cheer. I exhort you, be of good cheer."
There's the exhortation and the comfort, and the comfort is based
on the exhortation. Here is the reason you're to
be of good cheer, because God said and we believe it. Therefore we can be of good cheer. If we have a genuine reason for
hope in Christ, founded on his person, founded on his sacrifice,
founded on his righteousness, if that be true, if there be
any consolation in Christ, if there be any genuine comfort
based upon his person, his righteousness, his sacrifice, his obedience,
then these following things will be true. Now secondly, here's
the second reason for these fruits of love and humility and unity,
concern for one another, it's our consolation in Christ. Secondly,
if there's any comfort of love, do you get any comfort from the
love of the Father, which is everlasting and which is unchanging? Do you get any comfort from the
love of the Son who gave himself for us? Do you get any comfort
from the love of the Holy Spirit who intercedes for us, who guides
us, who teaches us, who leads us into the things of Christ?
Is that real? Do you get any genuine comfort
from that love? Do you get any genuine comfort
from the love of the believer who encourages you and understands
you and exhorts you? Do you get any comfort from that
love? Is it real? Is it genuine? Is it a part of
you? Then these things will be true.
You see what Paul's doing? It's what I tried to point out
in the introduction when Christ said, if you love me, you'll
keep my commandments. If you love me, that's the reason,
that's the foundation. Now here's what he wants them
to do, keep my commandments. But he said, if you love me,
you will. And John said, if they had been of us, they would have
continued with us. If they had that foundation,
if this had been true, if this had been real, then they would
have continued with us. You are of the household of Christ
if you hold fast your profession. And if you don't hold fast your
profession, you're not of the household of Christ. So when
Paul exhorts the Church to love one another and to live together
in unity, and to practice personal, genuine humility, and to have
a real care and concern for one another, he says it will be so
if there's any consolation in Christ. If this thing's a reality,
if there's any consolation at all in Christ, if you have any
confidence in Christ at all, if there's any comfort of love.
Now what's the next statement? If there's any fellowship of
the Spirit, Is there? Is there communion with the Holy
Spirit? Do we have a genuine communion
with the Spirit of the living God? Well, the Bible says if
any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he's none of His. He
doesn't belong to Christ. Is there a fellowship of the
Spirit? Is the Holy Spirit to you only
an influence or a real person? And then what's the next one?
if there's any vows and mercy, that is, if there's any depths
of affection, if you have any depths of affection at all. If
these things are true, they are tender, moving arguments for
unity. They are tender, moving arguments
for love. They are tender, moving arguments
for humility. They are tender, moving arguments
for concern, if these things exist. If there is a foundation
in Christ, if there's the comfort of Christian love, if there's
the communion of the Holy Spirit, if there's any real affection
for one another, then the following things are going to be true,
and let's look at them. Verse 2 through 4, here they
are. Now the first is like-minded. Fulfill ye my joy that ye be
like-minded. Now that's just the general head.
like-minded. That is, we are of one father,
one family, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one body, one head,
one vine, therefore we'll be like-minded. And this like-mindedness
will produce what? Having the same love. We love the same Christ, we love
the same Bible, We love the same people, whether they're rich
or poor, whether they're low or high, whether they're weak
or strong, whether they're learned or ignorant, we have the same
love. We love the same thing. We love
the same Redeemer. We love the same gospel. We love
the same blessed ordinances. We love the Redeemer. We have
the same love. Read on. that you be like-minded,
having the same love, and being of one accord. You know what
it said about the first Christians? It said they were of one heart,
singleness of heart. They were of one heart. That
is, they agreed in their counsels. They agreed in their discussions.
They agreed in their aims. They agreed in their goals. I
believe if a church sincerely seeks the mind of God, the deacons,
the members, the elders. The only room there'll be for
disagreement will be when somebody doesn't find the mind of the
Lord. When we had our first deacons meeting here, deacons and elders
meeting some time ago, we wanted to elect a chairman of the board
of deacons. And I've been wanting to do things
this way for many years, and so I finally decided to do it,
and I told the men, the deacons and elders, we were going to
elect the chairman of the board of deacons and elders, and I
said, now we're going to find the mind of the Lord on it. We're
not going to ask for discussion, we're not going to go around
the room and ask who you think ought to be chairing the board
of deacons. I want you to go home and pray about the matter,
seek the mind of the Lord. And see if God will reveal to
you who ought to be chairman of the board of deacons." So
we met together about three weeks or a month later, and I asked
them, I said, do you men have the mind of the Lord? And one
or two of them said, I think I do. I said, the rest of you
don't? No. Well, there's no use trying
to elect the chairman of the board of deacons. Let's go home
and pray some more, seek the mind of the Lord. So we went
home and we prayed some more and sought the mind of the Lord.
I think we met the second time or third time, and I said, Do
you have the mind of the Spirit? Do you feel like now that we
can pick out a chairman of the Board of Deacons? That had gone
over a period of three months. And just about all of them said,
Well, we think we can. And we elected a chairman of
the Board. And we did it without discussion, we did it without
argument, we did it without debate, we did it smoothly and of one
accord, agreeing in our councils, agreeing in our discussions,
agreeing in our aims. And that's the way I believe
that church business ought to be conducted. I am opposed to
business meetings. I am opposed to standing on the
floor of a church making motions and discussing business and taking
votes. I think a church ought to pray.
And when we pray, we don't have to vote. And I'm afraid when
we vote, we don't do much praying. A church should be not only of
the same love. We love the same Savior. We love
the same Bible. We love the same Father. We love
the same Holy Spirit. We love the same gospel. And
we're to be of one accord in our councils. We're to be of
one accord in our discussions. And if you can't get the mind
of the Spirit, and if you can't be in one accord, don't do it.
Just don't do it. But now we're talking about buying
some property back here. If God wants us to have it, I
want it. If we can't do it in harmony and one accord and with
the mind of the Lord and everything, I don't want it. I just do not
want it. I think the fellowship of the
Spirit and the fellowship of the Church is more important
than any piece of property on this earth. Now that's what he's
saying here. Now, all of this being like-minded,
of the same love, of one accord, of one accord. Now, once in a
while you're going to have someone have a problem, someone in disagreement,
but if the Holy Spirit is leading the church, most of the time
that person will be just out of fellowship himself. He is
the one that has the problem. The problem's not in the church,
and the problem's not in the congregation, it's in that particular
individual, and he'll be all right. if you leave him alone
and pray for him and don't build a wall too high so he can't get
back over. But being of one accord, now
look at the next line, of one mind, of one mind in doctrine,
of one mind in the preaching of the gospel, of one mind in
giving. This thing of giving causes much
conflict in the average church. The pastor has to do a lot of
talking about giving and a lot of talking about missions. I wrote to a preacher today who's
taken a new church down south, and I advised him to do this. I said, I believe that a church
is built, a church is edified, a church is disciplined, and
sinners are saved through the preaching of the gospel from
the pulpit. I believe that's the place to
build a church, that's the place to edify a church, that's the
place to evangelize a church, and that's the place to discipline
a church. Not in committees and not through special drives, I
believe from the pulpit right here, when we read God's Word
and preach God's Word, the Holy Spirit will take God's Word and
apply it to the hearts of his people and strengthen those who
believe and bring others to know Christ who do not know him. And
when people are of one mind in their mission program, in their
giving, in the ordinances of the Church, in the doctrine,
then the Church of God, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ will
prosper and God will bless it. Now look at the next line. It
says, Let nothing be done through strife. What is this? Here's what it is. It's a contentious
selfishness. That's what it is. It's selfishness. Having my way at the expense
of others' feelings. That's what contention is, and
that's what strife is. It's having my way. It's determined
to have my way at the expense of everyone else's desires and
everyone else's feelings. And usually that goes along with
the next statement, or vain glory. Now this is that conceit that
looks for recognition. This is that conceit that looks
for personal praise. This is that conceit that leads
me to believe that my spiritual contributions to the church are
vital. and the Church cannot survive
without it. But I must remember this. Any
spiritual contribution which is made to the Church of the
Lord Jesus, whether it be by the pastor, whether it be by
the musicians, whether it be by the elders, whether it be
by the deacons, is of the Lord and not of myself. I have no
reason to glory, I have no reason for any vain glory, I have no
reason for any personal pride, I have no reason to expect any
recognition for anything that I do that contributes in any
way to the spiritual life of God's church is not of me, it
came from God. I'm just an earthen vessel." And then the next line says this,
in lowliness of mind, that is, in humility. Let each esteem
the other better than themselves. I looked at that a little while
and I think I got some help on it. Now this is not in respect
to natural things. Not at all. Some people are better
musicians than others. There's no reason for one of our musicians to say,
well, I won't play the instrument next Sunday because I know somebody's
better, others are better than I am. Now that's not what this
is, let each esteem the other better than themselves. Now I'm
not making you, I'm doing this on purpose, because you know
it's not in respect to material things. Because there's some
things you can do better than somebody else, and you know it,
and it's good for you to know it. It's good for you to know
that. It's good for you to take pride
in your work and in your profession. That's not wrong. That's not
wrong at all. If you can do a job, you do it and do it well. And
don't you sit down and say, well, they're better than I am, get
up there and do it. No, we want the best one to do it. That's
what we're, you see what I'm talking about? But now here's what this
means. In humility, let each esteem
the other better than themselves." We're talking about spirituality
and grace. That's what this is talking about. This is in regard to spirituality. Paul said, and he meant this,
I'm less than the least of the saints. He meant that. Paul said,
I am the chief of sinners, and he meant that. Paul said, I'm
not worthy to be called an apostle. He was an apostle. He was a good
apostle. He rebuked the chief apostle,
who some folks think is the Apostle Peter, but that spokesman of
the group, he rebuked him. But he said, I am not worthy
to be an apostle. He meant that. When it comes
to personal worthiness, when it comes to personal spirituality,
when it comes to spiritual judgment, Let each one of us be ready to
give way to the other. You see what he's saying? When
it comes to this thing of personal spirituality and personal worthiness
and personal righteousness, when it comes to grace, then we ought
to have enough humility to genuinely say, I'm less than the least
of all the same. Let each esteem the other better
than themselves." Better than themselves. Out there, when Jack
Cuddle's working on a car, he knows he can do it better than
somebody else. He's got a right to assume that and believe that
because he knows his job and he's proud of the work that he
turns out and he wouldn't turn out a shabby job for anything
in the world. But when it comes to the fellowship of the saints,
when it comes to prayer, when it comes to worship, when it
comes to personal relationship with God, he has, and I have
no business assuming that I'm more spiritual than you are,
and I'm more holy than you are, and I've got a direct line to
heaven where you haven't. You're the ones probably got
the line, not me. And that's the way we're supposed
to feel about it. That's the humility. Now then, we're moving
on. He's talking, first of all, he
talked about having the same love, being of one accord. Seek accord, seek unity. Don't seek to disagree. It's
easy to disagree, strife and contention over words and over
doctrines and over the way to do things. You can find plenty
of reason to disagree, but seek accord, be of one mind. And don't
do anything through strife or vain glory, but in humility let
each of us sustain the other better. Not as good as I am,
better than I am. Not as holy as I am, more holy
than I am. Not as spiritual as I am, more
spiritual. And look at this next verse.
Look not every man on his own things, but every man on the
things or the interests of others. Now watch this. We're still talking
about church fellowship. Now a man has to take care of
his home. He has to support his wife and
his children, and if the need be, his parents. He's got to look after his job,
he's got to look after his business. You can't neglect your business,
you've got to take care of your business. You've got to look
after those interests. And you've got to look after
those interests with some care and some concern. But, we ought
to be as concerned for the interests of others as we are our own interests. We ought to be as concerned for
the welfare of our brother in Christ as we are for our own
welfare. His burdens must be our burdens. Look not every man on his own
interest, but every man look also on the interest of others,
on the welfare of others. I must see about your welfare
too. Your burdens ought to be my burdens.
Your heartaches ought to be my heartaches. Your needs ought
to be my needs. I remember when David Estrada
was here. He gave that illustration of the Syrophoenician woman who
came to the Lord Jesus asking him to heal her daughter. Her
daughter was sick, the woman wasn't. But the woman came to
the Lord and said, Lord have mercy on me. And the Master said,
or inquired as to the problem, she said her daughter was sick.
But she was asking for personal mercy. In other words, her daughter's
sickness was her sickness. Her daughter's need was her need.
Her daughter's burden was her burden. And she was saying, Lord,
have mercy on me. And Brother Stratta said, we're
getting into real intercession and real concern when our brother's
welfare and when our brother's burdens are so real to us that
we pray for mercy for ourselves to relieve that burden. Now the second division of this
chapter, verses 5 through 11, having called for this unity,
having called for this fervent love, having called for this
humility, having called for this sincere Christian concern, Paul
gives an illustration. And the illustration is the example
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now let's look at it, verse 5.
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ. Now here
are some translations of verse 5. Let that humility be seen
in you that was in Christ Jesus. Here's another translation. Let
that same attitude and purpose be in you that was in Christ
Jesus. Here's another translation. Let
Christ Jesus be your example of humility and concern. Now,
who is he talking about here? He said, I'm talking about the
one, verse 5, who being in the form of God, and this is to be
understood, he was of the very nature and essence of God. Christ
possesses the same glory as the Father. Unto you a son is given
His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor of the Mighty God,
the Everlasting Father. Look at the next line. He thought
it not robbery to be equal with God. Now folks have kicked this
around a long time, and I want to stop a moment and say something
about it, because some of you here may have read some commentaries
on it and had some discussion on it. Let's look at it just
a moment. Christ being in the form of God, that is, of the
very nature and essence of God, really and truly God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God. Now this is what he said. He did not obtain it by force. He did not obtain it by robbery. Obtain what? This nature of God. This equality with God. This
glory of God. This is the way Satan tried to
obtain it. This is the way Adam tried to
obtain it. Satan said, you'll be like God.
But Jesus Christ obtained this glory, this nature, this essence
of God, not by force and not by robbery. It was his from all
eternity. And then here's another translation.
In being equal with the Father, he did not rob the Father of
any perfection or any glory. And then here's what others say.
Christ did not, in a vain and ostentatious way, show this glory,
but rather he hid it. He did not seek vain glory or
applause. I prefer the first one. That
is, It says, verse 6, "...who being in the form of God, and
he obtained it not by force, he obtained it not by robbery,
he obtained it not by taking something that didn't belong
to him, but from all eternity he was equal with the Father
in nature, in grace, in essence." He's the very image of the Father. He's the brightness of His glory,
and it's His, and it's His, not by robbery. But now watch this
next line, but he made himself of no reputation. They reputed him as a mere man,
not as God, and not only a mere man, but a sinful man. They reputed
him as a friend of sinners, they reputed him as a carpenter, and
he took on himself the form of a servant, a servant of the Father
and a servant of men. He was made in the likeness,
not of Adam in the garden, but of fallen man. And being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself. He was really a man,
not in show and appearance only, for he lay in a mother's womb
nine months. He was born. He came forth in
subjections to his parents. He grew as a child from babyhood
to youth to manhood. He knew hunger first, weariness,
pain, grief, sorrow. He was in the fashion of a man,
and he humbled himself. He worked as a carpenter, he
washed the disciples' feet, false witnesses rose up against him,
he answered them not a word, his meek and quiet spirit was
certainly a spirit of humility, and he became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. John Gill says this, obedience
and submission was from the cradle to the cross. And this is our
example. He who knew no sin, the highest
was made sin, became the lowest. He who was rich, who needed nothing,
wanted nothing, needed all things. The highest became the lowest,
and this is the greatest example of humility, and the greatest
example of love, and the greatest example of care and concern that
can be found anywhere, that of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse
9, 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 in heaven, in earth, and under the earth, and
that every tongue should confess that he is Lord to the glory
of the Father." Now, there's a twofold reason for these two
verses, these three verses. Staying with our subject, and
I told someone in the study, the Bible flows by subject. I don't know but what a mistake was made when the Bible
was divided into verses. Now I think there are several
reasons for it. The Bible originally was not written in chapters and
verses. It was written like the book of Philippians. You didn't
have chapter 1, 2, 3 and so forth. You didn't have verse 1, 2, 3.
You had the book of Philippians in paragraphs by subject. But our translators in seeking
to help us to read the scripture and to memorize the scripture
and to find various scriptures, divided the Bible into chapters
and verses. It's not divided very well in
some places. There are many verses that end
with a comma or semicolon or a colon, or even without a punctuation,
with just a parenthesis or something like that, and that shouldn't
be divided. But the Bible flows by subject. It flows by subject. And whole denominations have
been built on a verse of scripture taken out of the Bible, taken
out of context and away from its subject. For example, the
Church of Christ is built on Acts 2.38, repent and be baptized
for the remission of sins. Southern Baptist Convention is
built on John 3.16, for God so loved the world he gave his only
begotten son. They forget John 3.14.15 is part
of John 3.60. But this is a subject we're dealing
with tonight. And when Paul starts this thing
off here, talking about unity and love and humility, he gives
us reasons for it, he exhorts us to it, then he gives us an
example for it. And then in verse 9 and 10 and
11, he tells us how that the Father has exalted Christ, so
staying on the same subject, that of humility, love, here
is what you come up with. And that is, every believer is
encouraged to sincere humility, to live in humility, to live
in love and unity, and not to exalt himself, but to seek the
Seek the welfare and the interest of others, and God will exalt
you in due time. Now that's carrying this example
right on as it is. That's the first reason. God
will in due time exalt you. Whosoever humbleth himself shall
be exalted. Your true worth will someday
be revealed. Your true contribution to the
kingdom of God will someday be known. You see what I'm saying? Just as God Almighty said, vengeance
is mine, God also will exalt the humble. And he says here,
our Lord Jesus Christ, who is equal with the Father, humbled
himself and became a nobody. He humbled himself and became,
in the likeness of the flesh, a nothing. And he was obedient
to the will of the Father and to the glory of the Father, and
to the purpose of the Father, even to the horrible death of
the cross. Wherefore God has highly exalted
him and given him a name. And God's going to exalt you.
God's going to give you a name. If we can only be lost in this
attitude of personal unworthiness, If we
can be lost in this attitude of, I am really and actually
spiritually nothing, that my welfare and my interest and my
reputation and my personal glory and my recognition, these things
are not important. That the important thing is the
glory of Christ and the kingdom of God and the happiness of somebody
else. That's more important. and the
unity and accord of the Church, and the success of its mission, and when some matter is discussed
in regard to the Church and business, it really doesn't matter whether
I have my way. The main thing is that I preserve
and protect that spirit of unity. Now then, verse 12, look at it.
"'Wherefore, my beloved, as you have,' and we're still on this
same subject, "'Wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed,
not just when I'm there with you,' Paul said, "'but even much
more since I'm away from you.'" down here in prison, you work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Now then, first
thing we know Paul did not mean here was the salvation of your
soul. Now you know better than that, and anybody that's got
a nickel's worth of cents knows better than that. That our salvation
was worked out by Christ that He came down here. He's the author
and finisher of faith. He's the one who bought us and
ransomed us and redeemed us and paid for our sins and finished
the work of redemption and intercedes for us. We're accepted in the
Beloved. We're complete in Christ. So I'm not down here working
my way to heaven. That'd be contrary to the whole
teaching of God's Word. But we're on the subject of love.
And we're on the subject of unity, and we're on the subject of humility,
and we're on the subject of getting a genuine care and concern for
somebody besides myself and my family and my immediate kinfolks. We're talking about a genuine
fellowship in Christ. And he says, you, my beloved,
after seeing this example, wherefore? And Barnard said one time, anytime
you see the therefore or the wherefore, you find out what
it's there for, because he's talking about what he just said.
He's talked about Christ's humility and exaltation. And he said,
now you work out your salvation. And here's what he's saying.
You work on your attitude. You work on your relationship
in this regard. You work on those things that
accompany salvation, and these are the things that accompany
salvation. It's not just enough for me to
say, well, I'm not going to hell, I'm going to heaven. Now, if
that's all a man is concerned about, I think he is going to
hell and not going to heaven. I think people who know the Lord
are concerned about being like the Lord. I believe people who
know Christ are concerned about pleasing Christ. I believe people
who love the Savior are concerned about the things that the Savior
commands and these things that Paul has been talking about.
And he said, you work on your attitude and you work on these
things that accompany salvation. You work on these things. You
work it out, not just when I'm with you telling you to do this
and telling you to do that and exhorting you to do these things.
You do it when you're by yourself. Don't just do it when you're
in church receiving instructions from the prophet, or the preacher,
the teacher, the evangelist, or the pastor. Even in my absence,
Paul says, when I'm not exhorting you, work out your own salvation. And do it, watch this, and do
it in fear and trembling. Not in fear of men. We're not
supposed to fear men. The fear of man bringeth a snare.
Not in fear of hell. But do it in this type of fear. Paul came to them, he said, I
preach to you in fear and trembling. What do you mean? Who am I to
speak for Almighty God? Who am I to claim the grace of
God? Who am I to assume that I have
the answers? Who am I to claim to lead others
in spiritual matters? Who am I? You approach this thing
of working on the things that accompany salvation and your
attitude and your salvation with this attitude. Who am I? The forces of evil are so great,
if God doesn't keep me, I'll fall. If God doesn't give me
the grace, I myself will become a castaway. I approach working
it out with fear and trembling, with fear and trembling. Now then, verse 13, for it's
God that worketh in you. It's God that worketh in you.
This is not of your own doing. All right, I'm going to work
on this matter of humility. I'm going to work on it. I'm
going to work on this matter of sincere concern for other
people. I'm going to work on this matter
of how blessed it is when brethren dwell together in unity. I'm
going to work on this matter of others are better than I am. They're better than I am spiritually. They're more worthy than I am. They're closer to God than I
am. They have more right to lead than I have. But now I'm going
to have to work on this with this constant fear. Don't take comfort in a false
humility. Work on it in fear and trembling.
And as you work on it, remember this, that it's God that worketh
in you. This is the very reason for humility. This is the very charge against
pride and vainglory. We're not our own, we're His
workmanship. We're His workmanship. Grace
is a gift of grace. Humility is a gift of God. What's this next line? For God
worketh in you both to will and to do his good pleasure. Let me tell you this. Just as
men have no will to come to Christ, and just as men have no desire
for his righteousness by nature, Even a redeemed person, even
a redeemed person chafes against humility and rebels against that
type of love and concern which Paul talks about right here in
this verse. And God has to work in us not
only to do these things, not only to do these things, but
even the will to do them. God must not only give us the
action, but he must implant the principle. He must not only give
us the ability to do these things, he must give us the very willingness
to do it. And he goes on and tells us to
do these things Do all these things without murmuring, grumbling,
finding fault, and disputing. I found a beautiful hymn, not
in our book, it was in a little old-fashioned hymn book. It goes
like this, Let brethren all agree, And peace among them spread,
Old and young, bond and free.