Sermon Tone Analysis

Blameless and Innocent — Above Reproach

Text: Philippians 2:14-16

Vs. 15 tells us:

Philippians 2:15 (NASB95)

… prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,

Father God is calling forth His children to join with Jesus in battling the darkness.

From the beginning of creation Jesus has battled the darkness.

Of course we know:

Colossians 1:16 (NASB95) For by Him [by Jesus] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, … —all things have been created through Him and for Him.

So, when we read in ...

Jesus defeated the darkness by speaking light into creation.

And then, from the beginning of the incarnation, the light of Jesus battled the darkness of the devil.

I believe from the moment of conception onward, the devil was doing everything he could to extinguish the light of Jesus — to keep Him from even being born.

Failing at preventing His birth, the devil then tried to extinguish the light by inciting Herod to kill all the babies 2 years old and younger who lived in Bethlehem and the the surrounding area.

Failing to extinguish the Light by the slaughter of innocents, the devil tried a different tactic::

He tried to dim the light — to pollute the light — to extinguish the light by causing the light to compromise with the darkness.

He did that in the wilderness by tempting the Light, by tempting Jesus,

to turn stones into bread to satisfy His flesh (how often does the devil do that to us?),

to throw Himself off the pinnacle of the Temple to prove that God was watching over Him (Jesus already knew that — do we?),

to bow down in worship to the devil to receive something His Father had already given Him (the devil still tries this tactic in our lives today)

— the devil did all that to no avail.

Finally, the devil pulled out all the stops, thinking he would forever extinguish the light by killing the light — by crucifying Him on a Cross.

Not only did the devil fail, but in the process the devil lost the keys of death and hell because after He died Jesus went down and took them from him.

AND the devil gave humanity the ultimate weapon that defeats him every time — the Blood of Jesus.

So the devil, the prince of darkness, has utterly failed to the extinguish the light despite his every effort.

But the devil hasn’t given up.

Even though he is a defeated foe, defeated by the Light, defeated by Jesus, he still goes about LIKE a roaring lion — but he is toothless and claw-less.

He still fights the children of God to try keep us from BEING the light and SHINING the Light of Jesus into the darkness of this present age.

In spite of the devil’s opposition, we willingly take up the cause of Jesus to defeat the darkness.

We do that because:

Like Saul of old, Jesus is calling US:

Acts 26:18 (NASB95)

18 to open the eyes [of Jew and Gentile alike] so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’

So, in the anointing and empowerment of the Holy Spirit we shine as lights in a crooked and perverse generation by:

As we saw in our text last week: not murmuring (complaining) and by not arguing with God when He has clearly revealed His will.

Now that clarity of understanding His will can be a tricky thing.

My experience is that it is not normally arrived at quickly.

One of the reasons is because it can be very difficult to hear through the “noise” of the environment that surrounds our understanding — our own desires, the opinions of others, etc.

Another way our text says we shine as lights is by being blameless, innocent and above reproach

We will look at these 3 qualities this morning.

We also see in this text that we shine the Light by holding fast and holding forth the Word of God.

We have got to have a firm grasp on the Bible — what Ephesians 6:17 calls “the sword of the Spirit.”

That sword and prayer are the offensive weapons given to the child of God.

We share the Word with those walking in darkness.

The final way that we shine like light in the darkness, according to our text is by rejoicing even through difficult things AND by sharing the joy of the Lord with others.

The light of Jesus shone forth victorious in His day.

Now Father God is calling US to be blameless, innocent and above reproach so that WE shine as lights in our dark world.

Blameless

First of all our text this morning tells us we shine our light the brightest and the best when we are blameless.

Now I can tell you right now that the world looks down on a blameless person.

They say like Job did in …

Even though a crooked, perverse and dark world may call us a joke, the weight of scripture is that God’s children are to be blameless.

I encourage you to look up all the scriptures that talk about being blameless.

It certainly challenged me!

We CAN be blameless because Jesus MAKES us blameless:

By dying in our place Jesus has made it possible for you and I to be blameless

- it means we can be without sin

- without blemish

- without guilt and shame

- without fault

When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour He makes it possible for you and I to become spotless and clean

- to be innocent

Colossians 1:21–23 (NASB95) And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach— 23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

What this means to us is that the devil no longer has claim on us

- he may approach God and accuse us of our past sins

- but those sins are no longer there

- he can no longer point out our faults because they are no longer there

This does not mean that we all become perfect and no longer have any problems

What it does mean is that whatever we place under the blood

- whatever we place on the altar

- whatever we place in the hands of God

- is cleansed

The devil can no longer point at our lives legally or legitimately and bring accusation against us and claim us as his own.

Which doesn’t mean he doesn’t try.

We must stand against his accusations and plead the Blood of Jesus against His accusations.

When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, in the eyes of God we become perfect, blameless, without spot or wrinkle

- we are above suspicion

- the devil can no longer legitimately cast doubt on our character before God

The only way the devil can lay claim to us once again is to get us to soil ourselves

- he can’t do it

- he can’t soil us

- he can’t make us sin

- he can’t even bring suspicion upon us

- there is nothing he can do to remove us from the grace of God

- we are the only ones who can do that

That is what temptation is all about

- he is trying to draw us out of Gods grace

- he is trying to ensnare us

- tempt us away from God

Are you getting the picture here

- he can’t make us do anything

- he can not even approach us

- he has to stand afar off and try to lure us away

- lure us to him

Do you see how protected we are?

Do you see what a blessing this is?

There is nothing that the devil can do to remove us from the hand of God

- if anything is going to be done to remove us from the hand of God we must do it ourselves

Because as

This is our heritage