Philippians 2 (Part 2) :12-18 • It is God who works in you

Philippians chapter 2 we're in verse 12 gonna be reading through verse 18 let's read it and it says therefore my beloved as you have always obeyed so now not only as in my presence but 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 work for his good pleasure 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 among whom you shine as lights in the world holding fast to the word of life so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith I am glad and rejoice with you all likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me let's pray thank you Father for giving us your word and we pray that you would open our hearts to it today and then you would help us to understand what you're saying and then also to apply this word to our lives you are the teacher we sit at your feet teach us today O Lord God in the name of Christ our Savior amen as Paul gets into this section of his letter to the Philippians he begins to speak to them about obedience and he says to them even as you have obeyed when I'm around I want to encourage you to also obey when I'm not around right and he says in the midst of that I want you to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling before we talk about what that means let's clear up any misunderstandings about what it does not mean because Paul is not saying work for your salvation if he were he would be contradicting himself frankly because elsewhere he said the exact let me show it to you on the screen Ephesians chapter 2 you know this for by grace you've been saved through faith and this is not your own doing pretty clear there he goes on to say it's the gift of God and it is not the result of works so that no one may boast so since we know that Paul is not reversing himself here in Philippians and we know he's not saying work for your salvation now we can ask ourselves what is he saying well the single Greek word that is translated here work out for it where he says work out your salvation means to produce or to accomplish okay in our American vernacular we would say something like walk it out make it a reality right so Paul is saying walk out your salvation walk it out to completion right with fear and trembling the other thing you need to understand about his usage of the word salvation here guys salvation doesn't always refer to eternal salvation when the Bible uses that word it can have different shades of meaning and in this particular case the word salvation refers to simply your life in Christ that you walk out every single day that's what he's referring to he's saying walk out your life in Christ walk it out in obedience to the Lord and and and live it to completion and so forth so it's all about shining our light for Christ while we're doing the things that we need to do to stay out of trouble you know that's another part of walking out your salvation it's living your life in such a way not so close to the edge that when temptation comes along you fall off that edge rather he's saying walk out live out your salvation in such a way that you understand the pitfalls and the difficulties and the challenges that come your way as a Christian so that you can walk it out and and and in so doing shinier light for Jesus Christ and that's you can see that's huge in just in case you think that all this walking out of your salvation in Christ is all up to you notice that he goes on in verse 13 to say for it is God who works in you both to have the will right to walk out your salvation and then also to do he says to work for his good pleasure what he's talking about is the the Holy Spirit living within you and living within me he's talking about you and I relying on the power of the Holy Spirit to give us the will and the power to walk out our Christian lives you know when you think about those things have you ever had a desire to do God's will that's him that's him doing that in you it's him who works in you to will to that means to desire to do it and then to walk it out let me show you how Peter describes this in 2nd Peter chapter 1 he says his divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness so interesting isn't it that here in Philippians he says God is God who works in you to will and to walk out or work out his good pleasure and then we see here in 2nd Peter that his divine power has given us not most of what you need it's given you everything you need for life which is the continuation of life and godliness which is Christ likeness he's given you everything you need do you know what you know what God just did to you and me between these two passages he literally robbed us of every excuse that we could possibly throw in his face about why we couldn't obey he absolutely took it away and now you and I have nobody to blame but ourselves if we walk into sin because as a Christian as a born-again Christian the Bible makes it very clear God has done his part and he's given you and I everything we need to walk in victory over sin now the fact of the matter is we don't walk every day in victory over sin do we that's just the reality of the situation but the but the point here that we're making is that it's not God's fault it's because you and I have made a decision or a choice to go against his will it's it's it's basically that battle of the Wills you know again here in Philippians Paul says it is God who works in you to will well sometimes my will comes up against God's will and my will is the contrary to him and I and and and I say no and you know what's interesting about that I don't know if it's interesting or not he lets me he lets me say no he lets me oppose his will and the reason he lets you and me oppose his will is because our will is part and parcel of that freedom that he has given to us to choose our path it is what makes us uniquely created in the image of God that free moral choice and he's not gonna take it away because it makes you part of who you are it is the essence of who you are created in His image and so he's not gonna remove it I sometimes wish he would but he won't and he will let you and I set our will against his the fact of the matter is he will also allow us to experience the consequences of setting our will against his and and so forth but you know I mean there's nothing there's nothing you know that you're hearing here that you haven't heard before you you've always known that when it comes to living a righteous life you were the weak link in that chain right I mean we all we all knew that you know the Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak and so we know that it's us it's us who struggles sometimes to to merge our will with God's will and that's why Paul is encouraging the Philippians here and of course obviously encouraging you and I through that to walk it out walk out the reality of that obedience walk it out he says he says I know I know that your will fights against the will of the Lord sometimes so walk it out live it out right here's the point the very same power that raised Jesus Christ from the grave is the power that now resides in you and I to walk out our daily life in him and believe me that power is enough for you and I to conquer sin but here's here's the problem it's not automatic I wish it was I wish when I got saved there was just this switch that got flipped in me that went from darkness to light where I now used to live in darkness and now I always live in the light prayer fact of the matter is I can choose to go back and wallow in the darkness if I want to and believe me in the many years that I've walked with Jesus I have and I know you have too but when that happens it is our own decision to walk backwards and that's why Paul tells us to not just walk out our life in Christ but to walk it out with fear and trembling that's so important that we understand what that means because fear and trembling is an attitude of the heart that says I can't do this without you to fear God and to tremble before him is to say Lord I am weak in and of myself and I cannot live this Christian life apart from you and I know that we all try to do that from time to time we all try to be a good Christian people say it to me sometimes when they come and they've just gone through some kind of a failure of sin you know related to walking with the Lord knows it pastor um I don't know why I did this I'm trying I'm trying every day and I get it I understand what you're saying you're trying and what fear and trembling tells us is my trying isn't enough I need to walk it out by faith not by effort listen the Christian life is not lived by your effort and by gritting your teeth and gutting it out and saying we're gonna do this thing it's fear and trembling you guys it's coming before the Lord on bended knee and saying Jesus I can't but you can right it's literally admitting your weakness I can't live the Christian life I can't do it I can't be the husband my wife needs I can't be the father of my children need I can't be the pastor and teacher that you need apart from Jesus it's only through his power only through his ability see now that ought to set you free I hope it does because when you walk it out you begin to just walk out what God has already done in you he's already given you the ability to both will and to work according to his good purpose it's already there you don't have to go looking for it you don't have to prevail upon him to give it to you it's there now walk it out but not by effort by the power of the Spirit humbly fearfully trembling before him Lord only you can do this only you can enable me to live this life that you've called me to only you I can't I cannot do this so Paul goes on here and he begins to describe some actions that are consistent with walking out your salvation let's look what he says here in verse 14 he says do all things without grumbling or complaining don't you hate this verse what I'm doing is I'm complaining about it do all things without grumbling and complaining that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation and by the way Christians are still living amidst twisted generation among whom you as a believer shine as lights in the world it's funny isn't it of all the sins and vices Paul could have pointed to as it relates to walking on our salvation he brings up these grumbling and complaining grumbling and quarreling actually the first one he's talks about his grumbling which is the same as complaining and then he talks about disputing here in the ESV your barbel Bible may say arguing or quarreling Paul basically tells us to stop arguing and stop complaining nobody likes to be around a complainer we all kind of know that because you know they're just constantly you know a Debbie Downer all all day long talking about everything that's rotten and bad and and and stuff like that but here's the point it's even more so a serious matter for believers to be complainers because you see the greek word that we translate complainer literally means one who is discontented with his life so you see when you and I complained to others specially unbelievers what we're doing is we're preaching we're preaching and we're telling people we're not satisfied with God not satisfied with the way he's treating me I'm not satisfied with the things he's given me I'm just not satisfied I'm not content and I'm gonna complain about it believe me that's not the kind of preaching that we want to do the fact is its unbecoming of a Christian complaining it's unbecoming and it shows just how worldly we still are if we're constantly giving in to complaining because here's the deal you and I have the best father in the universe he has promised us that he would never leave us nor forsake us and he never will but for you and I to complain about what's going on in our lives is essentially to declare to others our lack of faith in God and his ability to take care of us and to be that loving father that he has promised to be and that's a pretty serious issue and we need to think long and hard before we complain we need to think about what we're saying about God to others wouldn't be great if when somebody was complaining we just turned to him and said so what are you telling me about God well I'm not telling you anything about God I'm telling you about my circumstances yeah I know but isn't he the lord of your life yeah doesn't that mean he's the Lord of your circumstances I suppose so what are you telling me about God get it yeah the other way that Paul encourages us to walk out our salvation is by not arguing or quarreling remember when you'd get into an argument with your sibling or something like that your parent would come along and say all right what started this and we of course you both point to the other person he said and then you tell him what happened to her he he did this or you know or she if she wouldn't have just you know sort of thing and and you know that kind of carries over into our adulthood we think that arguments are caused by the other person but James tells us what causes arguments and it's kind of in-your-face because James kind of a he's kind of an in-your-face kind of a guy let me show you James chapter 4 what causes quarrels and what causes fights among you is it not this that your passions are at war within you you desire right you have all these desires and you don't have so you murder you covet and cannot obtain so you fight and quarrel you do not have because you do not ask meaning you don't come to God you ask and you do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions so you know I did some thing I love about God's Word it just doesn't mince words with us and try to you know wrap it up in flowers it just kind of says here's the deal if you're getting into all these arguments and quarrels here's why here's what started it your evil heart would that be wouldn't it be something if someone admitted that somebody walks in the room and you're arguing with someone all right what started this argument anyway well my evil heart it's true I mean that's the fact isn't is my it's my evil heart that started it and and and that's why it's happening and that means that when I'm walking in the spirit and not in the flesh I can resist the temptation to enter into an argument or a quarrel which by the way always takes two people and I can say no I'm not going there so we see here what we're not supposed to do what are we supposed to do verse 16 look with me in your Bible holding fast to the word of life so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I didn't run in vain or labor in vain Paul tells us that an essential part of walking out our salvation with fear and trembling is holding fast to the word by the way this this term holding fast this is one of Paul's favorite phrases let me show you other times when he used it you can see it in second Thessalonians 2:15 where he said so then brothers and sisters stand firm and hold fast to the teachings that we passed on to you whether by word of mouth or by letter 2nd Timothy 1:13 hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me and faith and love which are in Christ Jesus 1st Corinthians 15 - by which you are being saved if you hold fast to the word I preached to you and 1st Thessalonians 5:21 test everything and hold fast to that which is good so it's pretty clear this is a pretty common phrase used by the Apostle Paul here's the question what does it mean if I tell you to hold fast what am I saying well interestingly enough hold fast translates a word in the Greek that means two essential things first of all it means to hold your position just stay there and then secondly it means to hold your gaze okay to hold your gate remember when Peter and John were walking to the temple two at the time of prayer and says there was a man that was begging there and and and Peter and John walked up to him and said look at us because they wanted his attention and the Bible says he fixed his gaze on them it's just this exact Greek word now Paul is saying do this to the word okay first of all be unmoved stay and then fix your gaze hold fast to the word he's saying stay with it right stay with the word fix your mind on the word of life stay connected with the word of life what are we talking about here we're talking about just reading your Bible you know we we encourage people to read their Bible we encourage people to read through the Bible you know in a year or two years or whatever it's like you know you we all ought to be constantly reading through our Bibles but the thing that you got to understand about this reading through the Bible is wonderful but it's not magical and and and and what we're talking about when we say hold fast to the word of life is more than just reading your Bible okay the the the Pharisees knew the word they had read the scriptures and yet Jesus constantly rebuked them for their hard heartedness and their stubborn pride and so we're obviously talking about more than that and that is why the Apostle Paul when he prayed for believers he prayed for more than just them reading the word let me show you this it's from Ephesians chapter 1 this is Paul's prayer he prays he says that the god of our Lord Jesus Christ the father of glory may give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him having the eyes of your heart and lightened that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you that's why Paul prayed that prayer because just reading the Bible isn't enough there are liberal scholars who have read through the scriptures from beginning to end and they have walked away unchanged and untransformed by the Word of God why because their hearts have not been enlightened they have not received a revelation of the knowledge of Jesus Christ and they do not understand the hope to which they have been called you see I found a wonderful quote that I wanted to share with you here one I agree with John Piper said this he said the Bible is infinitely precious and also the infallible Word of God but if the Living God does not open our hearts we can read it a hundred hours a week and never see the glory of what it says or the one who gave it I think that's an excellent quote I really do and that's one of the reasons why every time here on a Sunday or Wednesday before we get into the word we always pray it's not just that we're doing it because it's time to pray before we it's not like we're following some you know they know we're praying because we need God to open our eyes we need God to give us the ability to receive what his word has to say because otherwise it's just gonna you know bounce right off our hearts and and have you ever read the Bible and kind of walked away and closed it and went hmm I am not even sure what I read your had that happen yeah me too do you think that doesn't happen to me sure it does the point is my heart isn't always in a place to receive from God's Word there are times I open up my Bible and I read through a chapter and my heart's just not in a place to receive and it's like yeah well that was kind of a waste of time we have this idea somehow that there's this magical thing that happens whenever we open the Bible and I read it you know Lord I need you to open my eyes I need you to open my heart need you to fill me you know with understanding finally Paul says in verses 17 and 18 even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith I am glad and rejoice with you all likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me interesting here he refers to his life his ministry his effort as being poured out like a drink offering this was known to the Jews actually pagans did drink offerings too but in the in the law there was a element related to the offering where when an animal was on the sacrificial altar someone would pour out a drink offering and it was usually wine that would be poured either on the offering or next to it and the thing that was interesting about a drink offering is it was poured out and then it was gone there was really nothing left to even show that an offering had ever even been made and that's the way Paul saw his life he saw his life as something that was being poured out he actually used this metaphor one other time when he wrote to Timothy speaking of his impending martyrdom in Rome but he saw his life that way as something that was poured out for the Lord given completely and totally to the Lord and as sad as it might sound when speaking of a life to say that life was poured out Paul relates it to rejoicing and gladness did you catch that he says even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering I'm glad and I rejoice and you ought to be glad and you ought to rejoice too here's why here's why Paul understood the principle that when you give your life when you pour your life out for the Lord you receive your life when you seek to hold on to your life and retain it for yourself you lose it isn't that what Jesus says isn't that what we're given in the in the Gospels if you seek to save your life you will lose it but if you pour it out if you give your life for my sake you will find it and at that point the pouring out of a life becomes an opportunity for gladness and rejoicing you know what's interesting about that in a fleshly sort of a sense my natural tendency is to hang on to my life it's to hang on to everything that I've ever been given including my number of days I'm just hanging on to it holding on to it you know with all I'm worth that's the flesh that's the life of the flesh to seek to save your life but the work of the Spirit in you and I is to pour our lives out literally to give them away to spend them on behalf of others and Jesus is telling us in the Gospels and Paul is reiterating here that it's a matter of great gladness and rejoicing because that is the path to finding your life is to have it being poured out and given completely to the Lord so a life given is a life gain you

Channel: Calvary Chapel Ontario

Views: 20,558

Rating: 4.8513932 out of 5

Keywords: Bible, Bible teaching, Thru-the-Bible, verse by verse, Calvary Chapel, Bible study, Christianity, New Testament, Old Testament

Id: ABrU93xGMzA

Length: 28min 34sec (1714 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 04 2018