Children of the Light
Joy in Jesus • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction
Introduction
Last week we finished at the mountain top as it were. We ascended into some very profound and magnificent truths about Christ. Christ’s obedience, condescension, humiliation, His death by crucifixion, and finally His exaltation.
All of this was Paul’s illustration of how and why we must obey; because Christ is our example for living (and dying), and greater still, He is Lord of all.
Paul brings the Philippians responsibility back into focus against the backdrop of verses 6-11.
If you recall Paul’s plea was one for unity and goes back to 1:27
27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,
The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) Literary Features
Many scholars recognize the theme or main proposition of this letter to be found in 1:27: “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.” Several concerns surface in this verse: the unity of the church, the integrity of the gospel, and steadfastness in the face of opposition. At several points in the letter, Paul urges the Philippians to pursue the unity that is theirs in Christ and to which Christ calls them (2:1–18; 4:2, 3). Paul also urges the Philippians to preserve the integrity of the gospel against false teachers and false teaching (3:1–11). There can never be true Christian unity when the gospel is not clearly proclaimed and maintained. Neither can one genuinely embrace the gospel while being indifferent to the claims of Christian unity
The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (2015 Edition) Theology of Philippians
The gospel promotes unity. Justification is by faith alone and on the basis of Christ’s merits alone, and not on anything that believers have done (3:9). One’s ongoing Christian life, imperfect as it is (3:12, 13), finds its focus and power in Christ’s death and resurrection (3:10–16). All that believers do is owed to the grace and strength of God (2:12, 13). Knowing these realities helps to prevent boasting in the flesh and promotes glorying in God alone (3:3). It is precisely this attitude that is conducive to unity in the body of Christ.
So the unity we are called to is directly tied to our faith in the gospel and serves to uphold the integrity of the gospel as it is perceived by the unbelieving world. Our lives bear witness to it’s transforming power and serves as the unshakeable grounds for unity and service in the church.
In verses 12-18 Paul resumes his appeal and continues with further motivation “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
That is both exciting and terrifying, God working in and through us.
Responsibility to Obey
Responsibility to Obey
Verse 12 begins with a ‘therefore’. Again, this follows veses 6-11 where Paul uses Christ as the example. Paul’s appeal is on this basis and thus the ‘therefore’.
As you have always obeyed - Paul commends them all the while entreating them to continue in obedience. We mentioned last week Paul’s tactics were warm and positive, not harsh.
He also (for the second time) express his desire for them to pursue greater unity whether he is present with them or not.
It can be our tendency, in the absence of spiritual leaders, to shrink back in our obedience and service for the Lord. God knows this and we can be thankful for godly spiritual leadership in the church but even in their absence we have responsibilities. It is of great benefit to surround ourselves with godly people that will keep us accountable.
Distancing ourselves from other believers is unhealthy. Paul’s concern is that when he personally isn’t present with them that there will be division and disobedience within the church.
Work out your own salvation
to exercise authority, wield power
g2716. κατεργάζομαι katergazomai; from 2596 and 2038; to work fully, i. e. accomplish; by implication, to finish, fashion: — cause, to ( deed), perform, work ( out).
AV ( 24)- work 15, do 5, do deed 1, to perform 1, cause 1, work out 1;
to perform, accomplish, achieve to work out i. e. to do that from which something results
We have mentioned at an earlier point. This isn’t working for salvation, but a working out. It’s a call to fruitful lives.
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
romans 3:221-24
ephesians 2:8-10
Those verses clearly tells us that it is not our works that save us. Salvation is a gift. Verse 10 also portrays us as God’s ‘workmanship’, which emphasizes God’s working in us and that we are created in Christ Jesus for good works. This means that the ‘good works’ are the result of being in Christ not the means of being in Christ.
So we don’t work for salvation but the Bible is very clear that we have a responsibility to work out our salvation. I mentioned before but I like to think of working out your muscles, you don’t work to create the muscle but we work it out so as to grow and develop it.
The image is to bring it to full completion. So progressive sanctification is the Spirit working in us and us working with the Spirit. It’s not ‘either-or’ but a ‘both-and’.
Also, he says work out ‘your own salvation’. Emphasis ‘your own’. Salvation is personal and on an individual basis. So this refers to the individuals responsibility. The NT portrays the church, yes even the local church, as a body. Each person is a vital and functioning part. So while we are saved on an individual basis, we are to be part of the bigger picture, not lone rangers. There is not one individual who makes up the body of Christ, either locally or globally.
Also, this is salvation in the fullest, redemptive sense.
With fear and trembling
The word for fear here can be used in the way that we normally think of fear but includes reverence
+g2192 1;
... used to describe the anxiety of one who distrusts his ability completely to meet all requirements, but religiously does his utmost to fulfil his duty
fear and trembling. This is awe and reverence rather than panic and alarm. The right emotions are stirred by the presence of God (v. 13), and not by misgivings or despair about one’s standing in Christ.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
We might think of rejoicing and trembling as opposite but the Bible doesn’t. Our society has programmed us to think this way but the Bible wants us to tremble, but tremble biblically.
Our tendency can be to try and minimize ‘fear and trembling’ but we shouldn’t. I take it as ‘fear and trembling’ just as it says. Even the NIV translates it that way.
My definition of fear: Having our emotions stirred, whether positively or negatively, by the understanding of a reality greater than and more powerful than ourselves, that we are subjected to.
There is certainly an element of helplessness and a recognition of our insufficiency.
All this FOR or because God is at work in you. I mentioned earlier that this can be both comforting and terrifying. Knowing that God is working in us is our motivation and it humbles us greatly. The fear and trembling we are to work out our salvation with isn’t such that it would serve to paralyze us in our service to God but rather to motivate us.
And the fear and trembling isn’t a fear of hell, no, it’s just the opposite. We should be so moved in our souls knowing God is working in us for good that all we can do is obey. It’s our natural tendency to be motivated more by the thought of loss of pain rather than gain. The thought of pain is certainly a powerful motivator but Paul’s motive as we see clearly in Philippians is ‘gain’.
Paul uses ‘gain’ 3 times in Philippians.
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
Philippians 3
We aren’t running from hell, we are running, rather sprinting, to Christ, our salvation. I believe that is the mindset of Paul.
Lights in the World (V 14-17)
Lights in the World (V 14-17)
In verse 14 we have grumbling and disputing sharply contrasted against being blameless, innocent, children of God.
They are opposite. We could even say to grumble or complain is antithetical to Christianity and faith in the gospel. They simply aren’t compatible.
I want to spend the remainder of our time examining this idea of grumbling and disputing.
The verse reads do ALL things without grumbling or disputing. So how many things are we to do without grumbling or complaining? All things.
NRSV and KJV render it as ‘murmuring and arguing’ or murmuring and disputings’.
Murmuring of grumbling is “a secret displeasure not openly avowed” - Strongs G112
Essentially it means complaining to yourself.
One writer states:
Many of us wake up set to “grumble,” and move through our days murmuring at a great variety of objects that get in our way. We may dress it up in nicer words; “venting,” ”being honest,” “getting something off my chest,” or even “sharing a prayer request.” But God knows what we’re doing - and if we really think about it, we often do too. Grumbling is the hum of the fallen human heart, and often a hallmark of Christians’ indwelling sin.
Scott Hubbard “Do everything without grumbling” https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/do-everything-without-grumbling 05/10/19
This makes those who are not known as grumblers a very peculiar people in the world. Those who “shine as lights in the world” (V. 15)
Paul’s use of the word grumbling (and his reference to in the next verse) takes us back to the desert between Egypt and Canaan, where we meet that group of experienced grumblers. What do their forty years in the wilderness teach us about grumbling?
Scott Hubbard “Do everything without grumbling” https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/do-everything-without-grumbling 05/10/19
Grumbling or complaining is our discontentment expressed verbally.
24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”
34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
matt 12:24
What comes out of our mouths is simply the overflow of what’s in our hearts. Grumbling or complaining at root is a heart problem. It comes as the result of something we want but do not possess whether something material, circumstantial or otherwise.
Grumbling and complaining is more that just an expression of our discontentment but an expression of unbelief. It’s a failure to trust in God’s goodness and sovereignty.
It fails to know and trust in .
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Do we acknowledge that God is for us and working all things together for our good? Do we know that even when, we are asked to mow the lawn, take out the garbage, or something more severe as the loss of a loved one.
When the Israelites finished burying the last of the wilderness generation, Moses revealed God’s purpose in all their desert trials: “[God] led you through the great and terrifying wilderness . . . that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end” (). What a tragic commentary on those graves in the desert. On every tombstone in that wilderness were carved the words, “We grumbled against our own good.”
Scott Hubbard “Do everything without grumbling” https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/do-everything-without-grumbling 05/10/19
Our own desires, whether good or bad, become what we expect and what we expect becomes what we demand. This is a sure set up for disappointment and grumbling.
If we put parentheses around verse 15 and just read V 14 and 16 it helps us to see our ‘way of escape’ when we have the temptation to complain.
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing,
16 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.
philippians 2:14
Holding fast to the word of life - Holding fast to God’s word isn’t something that just happens willy-nilly. It requires our attention and effort. It is a deliberate act and commitment. We need specific words that come directly to us from God in His word, the Bible.
In what circumstances do you find yourself the most prone to grumble or complain?
I would encourage you to think on this and proactively find and hold fast to portions of God’s word that we can use to confront these specific temptations to complain with.
Gods goodness
19 Oh, how abundant is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you
and worked for those who take refuge in you,
in the sight of the children of mankind!
Lights in the World
Lights in the World
The benefits we have in Christ
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalm
The brightness of our future
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Grumbling cannot abide in the presence of this Jesus. Over time, it must make way for gratitude. It must bow the knee to faith. It must give way to praise.
Scott Hubbard “Do everything without grumbling” https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/do-everything-without-grumbling 05/10/19
Cause for Joy and Conclusion
Cause for Joy and Conclusion
Verses 17-18
Paraphrase:
Regardless of what comes of my imprisonment, even my death and execution, in the light of your faith, I am glad and rejoice (not grumble or complain) with you all and you should rejoice with me too.
Again we are told to be glad and rejoice regardless of what comes. Regardless or our circumstance, if we are in Christ, we should rejoice and shine as lights in this dark world.