A Faith that Shows

Open up your bibles to Phil 2. I have titled the message this morning a Faith that Shows.

Pray with me…

As I have been discussing with you all I am really personally enjoying studying and preaching this book to you all, its really giving me a greater perspective on life. Paul attitude has convicted me to want to change my entire mindset on ministry, and my own personal walk.

One of my mentors in the faith’s favorite verse is Phil 1:27 which again fits so well into todays message. As a reminder let me read it to you.

Philippians 1:27 ESV

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 text we are in today continues with that same mindset in fact you could say this part of the text is really about sanctification, becoming more Christlike. I mentioned to you a few weeks ago that the Christian life is more than just a get out of hell free card, and I meant that, our desire should be to look more like Jesus each and every day. And today we are going to see Paul help us get to that very place.

Now as always I have a main Idea that I want you to take away from the sermon, and it is this this morning.

Work out your own salvation by the grace of God so that you become light in the world.

Let me read you todays text.

Philippians 2:12–18 ESV

12 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, 13 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 disputing, 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.

Now Paul is transitioning from the example of Jesus Christ how he walked in perfect humility and obedience to the father to the point of death, and how we will one day bow before him and address him as Lord the name above all names. So these words in these verses are a response to him being our Lord.

Paul here is specifically addressing believers, and that is very important to understand, because a text like this is not you could say evangelist, its addressing the saints of God. My beloved is believers in Christ, and thats important, because first point I want you to see this morning is this…

Christians are to work out their salvation.

Paul in this text commends them for obeying. The people of Philippi were taught the word of God by none other than Paul, and they did not take his words as empty sayings, they believed them, and not only did they believe them they obeyed them. Obeying the word of God is a great start to looking more like Jesus, and so he tells them keep up the good work, He is really saying… I am proud that you don’t need me watching over you each step of the way to be obedient.

Its a good lesson for us… It should not take me or your mom or dad or anyone else to cause you to be obedient, because your obedience to God is what is most important and he is the one who can always see you. Do the right thing always because God is always watching.

So Paul uses a few words on how we are to do this, he says to work out your own salvation. Now its really important what I am about to say. Remember Paul is writing to believers, these are people who are already saved. The theological term is these people are justified by Faith. There is three words we need to know. As a Christian if you don’t know them get them in your vocabulary.

Justification, believers are saved by the penalty of sin. Meaning if you have a realationship with Jesus Christ by faith you are saved from the wrath of God which sin brings upon us.

Sanctification is we are being saved from the power of sin. ( hold on to that one )

Glorification is we are saved from the presence of sin this happens when we go be with the Lord.

So there is this middle part sanctification if you are a believer this is where you are right now.. that we are becoming in this life more like Jesus Christ. Its a long road that takes a-lot of work, but its worth it, because we know we are already saved, and we know where we are going so we want to work our hardest to become what God intends us to be in this life which is more like Christ.

One man said.. Paul doesn’t say that because the Philippians are justified they should passively coast along in their Christian Journey. He urges them to what Eugene Peterson calls a long obedience in the same direction.

Thats a great way to think about this because the Christian life is not about what lies behind you its about what lies in front of you. I know in the room we have some younger people who hope to get married one day, and when you find that special someone you often do whatever you can to prepare yourself for the upcoming wedding. You diet, you exercise you start figuring out all you need to do to prepare yourself for the big day, Church how much more so should we be preparing ourself for all of eternity. Working to be more like Christ.

Sprinkling in obedience and prayer will never get you to where you want to be as a believer in Christ only total obedience will, now we talked about last week how no-one can be totally obedient outside of Jesus thats part of the reason he came to die for us, but by the power of God we can become more like Jesus. Paul says he wants you to work out this faith.

I read a story this week about one person’s son who saw this famous football player on a cereal box, and he asks his father will I be like this football player if I eat this cereal, and the dad tells the son. You need a bit more than this cereal to become this football player.

And so that got me your pastor to really start thinking, so many of us come to church, read our bible, barely witness, barely pray, and wonder why we look the way we look, and so often we blame others in the process. Its not anyone else's fault that I am not a better believer in Christ but my own. Its not anyone else fault that I don’t have my high school body anymore. If you and I and we as a church are going to look more like Jesus we have to exercise our faith. We have to have that long obedience, and the thing about long obedience I have learned is so often we get bored in it, and we stray off the path. Because we don’t see the results. It it harms more than just yourself when this happens. I can’t tell you how many times I have went to the gym faithfully for months hit a plateau and fell off, and that goes for my spiritual life as well. But God calls us to endure to press on, to keep being faithful, and we have the example of Jesus to look to when we want to not be faithful, because Jesus was always faithful.

Maybe a problem we have is we don’t work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Im sure many of you know Proverbs 9:10

Proverbs 9:10 ESV

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

This fear is not one of oh no what is God going to do to me if I mess up again, though we need to respect that but approach it with a fear of awe. A respect for who God is, and what he has done in the person of Jesus Christ. And if you look to define the word awe it simply means a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear of wonder. One guy said… This is often downplayed today as a legitimate motive for Christian living, but it was not so with Paul. This is a soul-gripping fear that grips them to the point of “trembling” (tromos). This word indicates a quaking with fear. The phrase carries the idea of a Christian doing his utmost to fulfill his duty, because he knows to whom he owes that duty. In this case, the responsibility is to work out our sanctification with “trembling.”

For me that means not taking the responsibility of being a Christian lightly. Which is something I think i to often do myself. Let us not be so confident in our justification, and our glorification, that we fell to see the need for sanctification.x2

And the beauty of this is we can be confident that he is going to work in us.

How many of you would have done something different in this life if you knew what the outcome of it would be? I would… What is outcome of our faith… Glorification, to be with Jesus for all eternity, so why is it that we don’t walk in the obedience to which Jesus showed us how to and commands us to do.

Christians should have the extreme utmost confidence because we have the same God who raised Jesus from the dead living in us conforming us to his very image, all we have to do is work. One theologian says… God is at work at the deepest of levels. God is working in us to bring our salvation to completion. We work because God works.

And he is working in us for his good pleasure. Remember this God is holy, and he wants his people to live as his son lived to be faithful and obedient, that pleases God. Remember last week obedience is greater than sacrifice this means that God takes pleasure if causing us to look more like his son, and it pleases him when our desire is to do the same. To do all things for the glory of God, which brings me to my second point this morning…

Christians are to be the light of the world.

Paul uses two words here that I believe he wants to eliminate from the christian vocabulary, and lifestyle, he says do all things without grumbling and disputing. Now friends I preach all the time the importance of words, and their meanings here is says it plan as day. Do all things.... Paul never ever wants the church of Philippi to grumble or dispute…

Anyone feeling convicted at the moment. Why use these words? Like any church the church of Philippi was not without its problems. In fact we have seen these people probably did not have the mind of Christ on many things, thats why Paul teaches them to think alike, and they have two women who have a serious issue with one another. But they also had outside issues as well.

To grumble means- to complain, or this low rumbling sound. A muttering you could saw. dispute is disagreeing, arguing, debating in the wrong way.

Both of these terms when thinking about it has plagued churches hasn't it. And Paul knew that was going to happen, thats why he does not want it to be so in the church and with God’s people. We need to be people who learn to eliminate grumbling, and disputing in our lives. To often churches do this when there is no reason to. unbelievers identify these things with the church. And if this is the case we will never be people who walk blameless and innocent as light of the world. Because we will look just like the world.

If you are closely associated with these two words Its in issue of the heart. These two things tear the church and one another apart and Paul things its so serious that we do all things without them, because in the end it damages our witness.

It damages our working out of salvation. There is a-lot of solid believers and I would even include myself in this at times that dim their light, because of grumbling and disputing.

If we keep our eyes focused on Jesus we wont have this problem. We will be blameless, and something to note here is blameless does not mean sinless. But Paul connects being blameless to live without grumbling and disputing.

Paul wants the church there at Philippi and us to live in such a way that the world being so crooked and twisted itself can’t say look at them they look just like us. The outside world wants the church to become more like the world.

They fight themselves they grumble. He wants there to be a clear distinction. In fact he says that the world is crooked. Scholars think it means winding, curved, twisted; while “perverse” (diastrepho) means to be distorted or to be turned aside: That should not be something that describes Christians.

In fact one man said.. “People who are crooked are ‘morally warped.’ They cannot be trusted. They have arrived at this terrible condition by having turned and twisted themselves in different directions, but always away from the straight path pointed out by the law of God.

I think this is why Paul wanted to make sure we were not like the world so that we would not lose our witness.

In fact one man said. Grumbling causes us to lose our distinctive character or in the word of Jesus our saltiness. IN fact in Matt 5:13-16 he says…

Matthew 5:13–16 ESV

13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Thats convicting my friends because maybe our biggest problems lie in the fact that we are not working our salvation

we may be growing in our Christlikeness, but we are also becoming more like the world. Several years ago I lost about 30 pounds I put some of that back on, but what I did to lose that weight was more than just doing the right things, but removing the wrong things. Christians need to be so salty that they do not over saturate theirselves with the things and cares of the world in such a way where you can barely taste the salt. If you have a tablespoon of salt for a small fry it would be alot more salty then if you had it for a large. Hope you get where I am going with this.. We have to saturate our lives with the word and working out our faith that every part of us is perfectly seasoned that that not one part of us is without Christ.

Jesus himself says. We are the light world. Jesus is no longer walking the earth, but he is working in us in such a way that we are to be light in which he came to be. put yourself is a place where you can be light.

Spurgeon uses this as an illustration for us. You have noticed at night a star. It is only a little spark comparatively, but still it is very bright, and everybody says, “Do you see that star?” Yes, but there is a moon; why does not everybody say, “Look what a beautiful moon?” They notice the star first, because it is not usual to see stars so brilliant. By-and-by, on a moonlit night, you will hear people say, “What a lovely moon!” Now, in the daylight people do not say, “What a lovely sun!” No. “What a lovely landscape! What a beautiful view! Look at the tints of those trees now the sun is shining!”

Just so the little Christian is like a star, bright in his little sphere. Others are like the moon: they excite admiration and attention to themselves. But a full-grown Christian, who should be perfectly conformed to the image of Christ, though giving more light than either the moon or the star, would not be half so much looked at, for men would be looking at what he shed light upon rather than upon him. They would look to the doctrine that he taught rather than to how he taught it; they would be looking rather at the lesson of his life than at the life itself. If I should urge you to more and more publicity, it will not be for your sake, but that you may be more and more forgotten, while the truth is the more clearly seen.Where does the text say they are to shine?—in their house? No, “in the world.” True, they are to be lights in their own family, but moreover if they come up to the full standard of what they should be, they are to be lights in the world.

we shine brightest by holding fast to the word of God. Paul uses this type of language often in the scripture in the text here he uses it in such a way that he is holding on to this for dear life, so that he can extend it to others.

Paul telling them hold out this torch in front of you that is the word and shine it on the hearts of men. Its like the olympians who hold out the torch and pass it on for the next man or women. A torch if its not properly used has no real effect, but if a torch or a light is placed just right it can change the very sky.

Col 3:16 shows us the power of what it means to hold on to the word of God it says this…

Colossians 3:16 ESV

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

You cannot be light without the word of God. One guy said.... No one was ever saved simply because they did all things without grumbling or disputing. No one could be converted without the word of God being brought to them. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). In their witness to the world, the Philippian Christians must be “holding fast the word of life.” As MacArthur puts it:

“Just as right doctrine without right character is hypocritical and ineffective, so also is right living ineffective if believers are not proclaiming gospel truth.

Paul is really telling them don’t let there be a disconnect between your life and your doctrine. Practice maintain your faith all while holding fast to the word. Never failing to share it. To be the light.

Paul wants them to be prepared for that final day when the Lord returns, and he wants to keep working, keep being lights, keep holding fast until the Lord returns.

He wants them to do that so he would be proud that that that he did not run in vain or labor in vain.

Often I prepare messages on Wednesday, and Sunday praying that same thing, that something in the lesson or Sermon would get the people of God to grow in the likeness of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, and one day heaven will be pretty sweet seeing all those I got to minister to there, and the fact that I played in a small and I mean small role in it. But Paul wants his people to truly follow the word of God to make him a proud minister of the gospel.

Last point this morning is this…

Christians are to be always rejoicing.

Paul makes this striking claim and that is

Philippians 2:17 ESV

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.

He is saying look I am prepared in prison to lose my life so that you can grow and mature in your own faith.

In fact you see from the offerings in the old testament that wine was poured out on burning sacrifices so that the steam would rise symbolizing a offering to God.

Paul poured out his life for the advancement of the gospel. And he is glad to do it, because he did for the glory of God, and he did it because of Jesus.

And he wants the people to rejoice in that truth, rejoice in the fact that they can share in the same joy as Paul.

There is so many things we can rejoice in this morning. We can rejoice in our salvation in our standing with God, we can rejoice in our obedience, we can rejoice in the growth we have individually and corporately, we can rejoice that God is working in us that he is not through with us, and that we have the opportunity to grow in our faith. We can rejoice that we can be lights in this world! We can rejoice that we have the word to mold and shape us and that we get to tell people about Jesus.

Friends for us we get the incredible privileged of pointing others to Jesus as believers in Christ. Most of us have jobs were we get to work, but there is no greater work than telling others about the one who saved us. Remember the example last week. I have to read it to you again.

Philippians 2:5–11 ESV

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Tell that glorious truth to someone this week, and if you don’t know today who your Lord is, let that change right now. Call upon the name of Jesus Christ repent turn away from your old life run to him run to the one who came lived that perfect obedient life so that his children can have life in him, and never be the same again. Be motivated by the work of Jesus to grow in Christ likeness.

Let us pray…