Summer 2016 Walking Through Philippians

Transcription

1 Summer 2016 Walking Through Philippians Sermon Transcript July 24, 2016 Working with God Philippians 2:12-18 This message from the Bible was addressed originally to the people of Wethersfield Evangelical Free Church on July 10, 2016 at 511 Maple Street, Wethersfield, CT, by Pastor Ryan Warner. This is a transcription that bears the strength and weaknesses of oral delivery. It is not meant to be a polished essay. An audio copy of the sermon on CD is available by request at (860) An audio version of this sermon may also be found on the church website at 1

2 Sermon Text Philippians 2: 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, 14 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 14 Do all things without grumbling or questioning, 15 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, 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. 17 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. 18 Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me. 2

3 Therefore This summer, we are walking through the book of Philippians, Paul s letter to the church he founded in the European town of Philippi. Last week, John Leonetti led us in exploring one of the foundational passages of the book from the end of chapter 1 and the beginning of chapter 2, including a section often referred to as the Song of Christ. Now, our passage today, starting with chapter 2, verse 12, begins with the word therefore. A very good friend of mine whom I served in student ministry alongside for many years back in Florida had a very helpful pneumonic device for this word. He would say, Any time you see the word therefore, you have to ask, What s it there for? The answer, of course, is to remind us of what we ve just read, setting the context for what we are to read next. This friend s name, by the way, is Cheez. If you re following along in the transcript, you ll see that s Cheez with a z so as not to be confused with the food. So anytime Cheez (the person, not the food) would teach students on a passage of Scripture that contained the word therefore he would invariably say What s it there for? Our therefore in Philippians 2:12 is significant, because wrenched from the words that come before, this passage can be a confusing one at best. Therefore, let us begin by reminding ourselves of last week s passage. 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, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at 3

4 the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 1:27-2:12) While this passage is packed full of theological depth, for this week let us simply notice a couple of larger themes. First, Paul is encouraging the Philippians to live lives worthy of the good news they have received in Jesus. In particular, Paul is emphasizing striving together towards a common purpose, and humbly focusing on the needs of others. In this he points to the example of Christ, in which he says, Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. He then paints an epic, beautiful picture of the humiliation of Christ, and it s reward. It seems quite clear to us that Paul is imploring the Philippians, and ourselves by extension, to have our thoughts, attitudes, and actions molded after the image of Christ. Content in Sin And I suspect that just about everyone in this room, even those of you who would not count yourselves as Christians, can agree that if more people lived more like Jesus did, that would be a good thing. Those of us who are Christ followers would in fact say that it is our desire to live like Jesus as best as we can. Yet in practice, I suspect most of you are like me, content to live enough like Jesus that our conscious doesn t bother us too much. Friends, we are content with ourselves far too easily. I believe it was the great 1930s American philosopher Popeye the Sailor Man who oft said, I am who I am and that s all that I am. Now, to the extent that such a phrase is expressing a positive self-worth, it is all well and good. For when I say we are too easily content with ourselves, I am not speaking of a matter of our identity. As Paul writes in Romans, God showed his love for us that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. God has already said that you are loved. There is nothing you could do to make God love you more or make God love you less. No, I am speaking of how easily we become content with our sin. Remember that the Philippians were mature believers, who had demonstrated their faith. Yet, Paul is encouraging them towards unity and humility, for they were living out of rivalry and vanity. Do we not have the devilish habit of becoming comfortable with who we are, as we are, including the parts of ourselves that are not as they ought to be? If you were not with us during our series on the Ten Commandments in the Spring I d encourage you to go back a listen to those messages, as our exploration of those commandments had the effect of revealing just how profoundly far we are from the image of Christ. 4

5 As Pastor Scott has said, God loves us just as we are, but loves us too much to leave us just as we are. This is what Paul has been getting at with the Philippians thus far. Let us not declare that we are content with who we are, accepting the sin in our lives that separates us from God, from one another, and from who God has called us to become. Let us not settle for living good enough for our conscious. How we live our lives matters, and in Christ we have before us the ultimate example of humility, that our minds, our attitudes, ought to be as his. Work Out Your Salvation 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. (Philippians 2:12-18) The end of salvation is not merely an eternal destination but being transformed into the image of Christ. When we grow comfortable with our sin, when we become nonchalant in how we live, we withhold ourselves from experiencing the fullness of God s grace. Do not be confused by the phrase, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Keep this verse in light of the context of Paul s letter. He is imploring us to live lives worthy of the gospel that we have already received. We are already able to have the attitude of Christ as it is our in Christ. Consider Ephesians 2:8-10, which commentator James Boice has described as Paul s own commentary on Philippians 2: For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone. Our salvation is not the result of any work on our part. Our good works instead flow out of our salvation. It is our sanctification, the process of salvation that God is continually working in us. Specifically, when Paul says to work out your salvation, he s saying to carry it to its conclusion. William Hendrickson describes this as to thoroughly digest it and apply it to daily living. 5

6 I even find it helpful to consider how we use the term works out in our common vernacular today. If I see a strong looking man with large, defined bicep muscles walk into a room, I m likely to think or even say, Well, that guy work out. Strangely, no one has ever said this to me when I walk into a room, but that s another conversation. To go to a gym and work out one s body does not determine whether or not one has a body. That would be ridiculous. Likewise, exercising our salvation is not a question of whether or not we have our salvation, but rather what effort we are taking in living out what is already true of us. My pastor of many years, Isaac Hunter, often restated a famous statement of Dallas Willard, that grace is opposed to earning but it is not opposed to effort. Kevin DeYoung has written that, Trusting does not put an end to trying. So we work out our salvation with fear and trembling with a right view of who we are and who God is. And even in our effort we see that it is God who is working in us. It is God s empowering presence that affects our will and our deeds more into the image of Christ. This is what I mean by saying that when we are comfortable with our sin, we are withholding ourselves from experiencing the fullness of God s grace. When we are not working out our salvation, we are not progressively coming to experience all the aspects and blessing of salvation. While facing our sin is often painfully difficult, the deepening experience of God s grace is always worth far more than we could have imagined. Let us remember also, that this grace is not simply for ourselves. It is not for us to decided that we ve had all we need. While you and I certainly each have a personal relationship with Jesus, we do not have an individual one. John Wesley is attributed as having said that the New Testament knows nothing of a solitary religion. Simply put, God s grace at work in our lives impacts the lives around us. God is sanctifying us for himself, for the church, and for the world around us. In our text today, Paul is addressing a Philippian church struggling with rivalry and vanity. Some are thinking of themselves above others. Some are preaching the gospel out of selfish ambition. Some are involved in obviously public disputes. These are relational sins sins that are separating the Philippians from one another. This can be the only result of growing comfortable with our sin. It will invariably spill over into our relationships with others. And Paul is insisting that this is not how it should be within the church. The working out of our salvation is then not only an individual effort, but also a corporate one. 6

7 As you know I had the opportunity a couple of weeks ago to take a group of our students to the Challenge Conference in Louisville, KY. The teaching throughout the week focused on understanding who we are and why we re here in light of who God is and what God has done. You could summarize the week with the statement that we are a family of servant missionaries. If that sounds like something you ve heard around here about being sons and daughters, servants, and stewards, that s because it is. We are a family of servant missionaries. We are servants in the image of Christ as Paul has so eloquently described. And we are not isolated servants, but servants in the context of a family. One of the speakers at Challenge Conference had a simple statement that resonated. He said that Christians often speak of their church as like a second family. But he said, We are not like a family. We are a family. And this is true! So we cannot pretend that our sin is an isolated issue. Our obedience to Christ, or lack thereof impacts our family. So we must seek to place one another ahead of ourselves in our minds. We must seek to believe the best about our brothers and sisters. We must encourage one another towards love and good deeds! In some ways it seems silly, at a glance, that Paul s next words are a very plain, non grandiose instruction. Do all things without grumbling or disputing. Some translations say without complaining. This seems almost too simple. But what does and act of obedience done while grumbling and complaining reveal but a heart focused intently on oneself? Who is more insufferable to be around than the person who is always playing the martyr? Who among us is so attuned with the presence of the Holy Spirit within us that our conscience would be bothered by our grumbling attitude? How comfortable we grow with our sin. 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. (Philippians 2:14-15) I read a fantastic article this week by a pastor by the name of Erik Raymond. He was reflecting on this passage and the implications of our obedience to Christ. In it he wrote God means to have us obey him even in the context of a fallen world. The world is broken and twisted (out of joint) and we are to shine as lights in the world. I think he is pointing to the lights in the sky or to stars. What did stars do in the ancient world? They did not have a GPS or GoogleMaps to get around so they had to use the stars. Mariners would find their way home from the stars. So too the Christian is shine as a light. Our lives of obedience are to reflect the way home. As we demonstrate and declare the gospel we are to show the way home to the New City prepared by God. Our obedience that is 7

8 our growth in the grace of Christ is to shine. Simply put, Raymond is writing that how we live can lead people towards or away from Jesus. The world needs our obedience to Christ. This is indeed what Paul is saying, too, and it comes through the grace of God renewing our minds to have the attitude of Christ. They Will Know We Are Christians by Our Love Interestingly, here we are not even talking about our distinctly evangelistic efforts, as in verbally proclaiming the good news of Jesus to someone who is not a believer. This letter to the Philippians is addressing how we, as the church, treat one another, as a means of living out the salvation that we have received. As Jesus said, A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:34-35). This is what makes us a light shining in the darkness, a city on the hill, leading people to the love of Christ our sacrificial love for one another. We are a family of servant missionaries. This passage of scripture teaches us that service, in the context of our family, advances our mission. My question to you this morning, then, is what stands in the way of you allowing God to work in you? Where have you grown comfortable in your sin? Where have you decided that you are who you are and that s good enough for you? Have you the courage to pray as David Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:23-24) Or maybe, if you re honest, you don t need to ask God to show you where there is sin in your heart. You can pray as David too Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10) What in you is standing in the way of grace transforming you into Christ-likeness? We Need You God s grace is opposed to earning, but it is not opposed to effort. What you do with your life matters more than you know. Reject your nonchalance towards your sin. Join in working with God towards your sanctification. We need you. The body of Christ is strained without your effort in working out your salvation. Your neighbors need your good works to reflect the light of God s love to them. And all of this is through the indescribable grace God who works in us to bring about the fullness of our salvation. by Pastor Ryan Warner - All rights reserved 8