Sermon Tone Analysis

! Introduction

Review of last week:

A.       Humbling One’s Self /2:5-11/

1.      Christ is the Supreme Example /v.5/

2.      Christ is the very nature of God /v.6/

3.      Christ emptied Himself /v.7/

4.      Christ humbled Himself to the point of utter humiliation /v.8/

5.      Christ was rewarded – highly exalted by God /v.9-11/

a.

Given the name above every name /v.9/

b.

Given supreme power & Authority /v.10/

c.

Given supreme worship as Lord /v.11/

 

!!! Introduction: God’s Gym vs. the Worlds Gym ----you must have a membership card!

A.       The worlds gym focuses on the outward, the flesh

B.       God’s gym focuses on the inward, the spirit

C.       The worlds gym will reap temporal things that will fade away

D.       God’s gym will reap eternal benefits that will never fade away

1.

No pain, no gain—growing muscles vs. growing spirits

2.      Spotter when working out—Jesus is our spotter

3.      Push the wait upward

 

This week I want to teach you how to Work Out in God’s Gym

 

There are going to be six steps in our Work Out today, and they are…

 

!!! I.                   To Work Out One’s Own Salvation With Fear & Trembling /v.12/

II.

To Work At Obedience—To Work Out the Stirring of God Within the Heart /v.13/

III.

To Work At Not Murmuring /v.14/

IV.

To Work At Being Pure /v.15/

a.       Blameless/ v.15/

b.      Harmless, sincere /v.15/

c.       Without Fault /v.15/

V.                To Work At Witnessing /v.16/

VI.

To Follow the Example of Sacrificial Labor /v.17-18/

 

/ /

/1.      //What does 2:12-13 have to do with 2:1-11?

(The word therefore is a clue.)/

A.       Since Christ Jesus by means of His unrestricted, voluntary obedience gave you and I an example (verses 5-8); and

B.       Since the reward which he received shows that there are great things in store for those who follow this example (verse 9-11); and finally

C.       Since this highly exalted divine and human mediator imparts strength from heaven to all who trust in Him and yearn so to live as He would have them to live (verse 9-11),

 

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear & trembling

 

A.

Paul Was Absent From Them & Was Going To Be For A Long Period of Time

1.

They leaned to heavily on Paul and his presence and going directly to him instead of God for their problems.

2.      They must depend upon God completely on God.

Their motivation is /Paul not being there/, they must work out their salvation apart from Paul presence, striving to produce the fruit of the Spirit.

B.       Application—Matthew 7:24-27 one day you will be out on your own & mark my words “the storms of life” will hit you some day and if you are building you life on Christ & His Word you will stand, if not it will be like the 3 pigs and the big bad wolf.

!!! WORK OUT #1

I.                   To Work Out One’s Own Salvation With Fear & Trembling (v.12)

A.       What does it mean to /work out your own salvation?/

How is working /out /your salvation different from working /for /it?

1.

We are saved by grace not by works.

Works are proof of our salvation; we must be “doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving ourselves”.

2.      Faith alone saves, but the faith that saves is not alone, James 2:17-18  -- Only God can see the heart and truly knows if you or I have a saving faith.

But the people around us cannot see into our hearts all they can see is the “works of faith.”

3.

True faith will “work itself out” 

a.

*Definition: *To work on to the finish, to completion, to perfection, to complete the effort & the work begun

b.      Working out was used for working a mine getting out of the mine all the valuable ore possible; or working a field, getting the greatest harvest possible

c.

The verb indicates that Paul is saying to *“continue to work out.”*

Are salvation is a process, that is /sanctification/, *it is a pursuit, a following after, a pressing on, a contest, fight, race *(Phil 3:12; Rom.

14:19; 1 Cor.

9:24-27; 1 Tim.

6:12.)

d.      *Our enemy: the world, the flesh, and the devil*.

It is one thing to pray “as we forgive our debtors” but it is another to carry this out in practice.

It is one thing to shout, “do all things to the glory of God” but another to carry this out in practice.

B.

With Fear & Trembling

1.      *Meaning*: in the spirit of wholeheartedness, singleness of purpose (Ps.

119:10, 34) *reverence and awe /being afraid/ to offend God in any way (Gen.

39:9*; Heb.

12:28) trust in God (2 Chron.

20:12), humility Luke 18:13

2.      *Why* should I Fear & Tremble?

a.

We must “fear our own sins” & weaknesses—/let him who thinks he stands take heed…/

b.

As a child is afraid of displeasing his father, I don’t want to displease the Lord

c.

I will stand at the judgement seat of Christ

3.      ECCLESIASTIES 12:13 is the conclusion of the matter

 

WORK OUT #2

II.

To Work At Obedience—To Work Out the Stirring of God Within the Heart /v.13/

A.       For It Is God Who Works In You Both To Will And To Do For /His/ Good Pleasure.

1.      Meaning: /to energize, /God stirs, and energizes the heart of the believer—giving us both the will and the power to do what pleases him

2.      If God was not “working in us” we would not be able to “work out”

3.      God promised the day would come when He would no longer write His laws on tables of stone, but on the fleshly tablets of their hearts.

4.      *It is God* that gives me the desires, and then the capacity to fulfill the desires.

*BUT REMEMBER THIS: we are free to reject God’s grace, we can continue to sin without repenting, it is our choice*

 

B.

The Power That Works In Us Is The Power Of The Holy Spirit

1.      Jn 14:16-17, 26; Acts 1:8; 1 Cor.

6:19-20

2.      *Illust.

/A toaster, iron – John 15:4—Eph.

3:14-19/*

C.       *The power* *is here, but how do we use it?

What tools does God use, by His Spirit, to work in our lives?