Contentment: A Light in the Darkness
Philippians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 5 viewsLaboring and striving for blamelessness: contentment in a grumbling world.
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So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;
for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
Do all things without grumbling or disputing;
so that you will 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,
holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.
But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.
You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.
Introduction
Rachel and I at the KY state fair.
I’m a mediocre carpenter, but I appreciate going to the woodworking section of the fair. Having done that kind of work on even an elementary level you gain an appreciation for the labor and skill that goes into something that might appear plain and ordinary to someone else.
As Christians we labor and serve together in the power of God for something that to the rest of the world may appear so plain and ordinary, but in reality wins the blue ribbon when all is said and done: A content faith.
The work of God, the work of ministers, and the work of saints in the church culminate in a content faith that displays the light of Christ to the world.
The work of God, the work of ministers, and the work of saints in the church culminate in a content faith that displays the light of Christ to the world.
An effort, an affection, an effect.
The work of God for our fearful work
The work of the Word for contented witness
The work of ministry for our joyful faith
The work of God for our fearful work.
The work of God for our fearful work.
Notes:
So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;
for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
I want us to notice right from the beginning that Paul’s command to work is book ended by two very important words,
so then/ therefore
and for
What is behind and before this command is the basis for why Paul is calling us to work out our salvation.
In our social media culture, we’re so used to an argument taking the form of a single sentence, a tweet, or a post. We love one liners because of the punch they deliver. It’s important we take the time to understand what is supporting the argument Paul is making and not abbreviate what he’s saying for a certain effect.
Should we encounter some kind of easy-believism in the culture or licentiousness, or abuse of grace there may be a tendency to grab a one-liner like, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling” as a counter measure to laziness of some kind.
Now there are absolutely times and places where rebuke, correction, or a call to repentance are appropriate, but let’s recognize that the working out of our salvation is not apart from faith. It’s not a buckle down and do it mentality though some days it may feel that way. The context of Paul’s command to work on the other side of ‘therefore’ and ‘for’ give us the importance of our faith in our working.
Let’s look back briefly to where we left off last week.
Paul has laid out beautifully the incarnation, death, exaltation and reign of Christ in just a few verses.
Christ being fully God, the one through whom all things were made and in whom all things hold together, with great humility, took on humanity.
In His humanity He became a servant, dying on the cross for our sins that we might know forgiveness.
He rose from the dead and was exalted to the right hand of God where he no reigns until all creation will be made new and every knee will bow to the King of all.
“Therefore...”
What Paul is doing here is not unique to this particular argument. Paul is simply reasoning like a Christian.
As Christians our work and our obedience ought always flow from our faith in the gospel and all that Christ has done and will do.
We might ask ourselves,
“One which side of the “therefore” is our work?”
Because we have worked, therefore may God work??
Welcome to every other religion in the world.
Or is it the other way?
Because God has worked, therefore let us work.
This is the unique treasure of the Christian faith.
We look back on the accomplished work of Jesus Christ on our behalf saying, “sin and death has been defeated, I am His and He is mine.”
“Therefore,”
Let us work out our salvation with fear and trembling.
Recognizing Paul’s explicitly Christian reasoning, what is Paul actually calling the church at Philippi to do?
Firstly, Paul clearly recognizes that there is something fundamentally different about the church at Philippi that is independent of his presence.
“just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation...”
We all know the feeling of authority walking into the room.
The boss might show up at the job sight.
The VP might be making a visit to the office...
There’s a certain behavior that follows when authority is present.
Paul, being an apostle, naturally carries some authority. A key part of his ministry is going around to various churches ensuring their health and providing correction where necessary.
In any ordinary work place, we also may know how the behavior changes when the boss leaves. Ideally everything continues to fire on all cylinders, but that is rarely the case if we’re honest.
We as the church recognize the importance of leadership, authority and accountability, but we are not like the world in the most fundamental way. When no human authority is present on an ordinary Monday, we are still sons and daughters of God saved by grace. Out of our new heart given to us by God, we work and obey.
Paul recognizes that the church’s continuation and growth in the faith is not contingent upon His presence or his authority. They have the gospel and the salvation of Jesus Christ. So Paul continually reminds them of that basis of their life and living.
“Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”
The next natural question is, “What place does fear and trembling have in the Christian life?” How does faith and fear fit together?
I’d like us to explore briefly the difference between a holy and an unholy fear.
First, let’s consider the possibility of an unholy fear: a faithless fear.
We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
John puts it pretty plainly. There is a process of being perfected in the love of Christ that removes fear. The love of Christ and the assurance we find there grants a security that supersedes any fear.
For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
Notice again the removal of fear by means of a loving relationship. The very nature of our salvation, that being our adoption, our eternal belonging to God as sons and daughters grants us a security in Him and removes fear, an unholy fear that is more reflective of slave than son.
And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? How is it that you have no faith?”
They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
The disciples too having seen Jesus’ power after quieting the storm, fear Him. Note that this fear is not a fear of the storm. They fear Jesus because of His power. You might expect this be appropriate to a degree, and yet Jesus gives them a soft word of rebuke, “Why are you afraid? How is it that you have no faith?
We must readily acknowledge that there is a kind of fear that is faithless, not knowing the love of God and behaving as a slave would before a harsh master. Should we remove from our mind the gospel, the love of Christ, and the assurance of His care for us, we ought not be surprised when an unholy fear sets in and we begin to behave like slaves rather than sons and daughters.
Recognizing the possibility of an unholy fear, we need be careful we do not throw out the holy fear which we see throughout Scripture.
We spoke last week briefly about the transcendence of God: the supremacy of God that we don’t fully comprehend in His power, sovereignty, and holiness. When we begin to get a glimpse of God’s transcendence as sons and daughters, it is absolutely right that there be a reverence, awe, and even trembling at the recognition of something so powerful, good, and glorious.
Oh let those who fear the Lord say,
“His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
From my distress I called upon the Lord;
The Lord answered me and set me in a large place.
The Lord is for me; I will not fear;
What can man do to me?
It’s clear the Psalmist recognizes a holy fear of God that believes in His lovingkindness, He answers prayer, and that He is for us. The fruit of this holy fear is the removal of unholy fear: the fear of men and harm.
Therein we can come to our text and state clearly that Paul is not calling for
a work that looks like slavery. working out of fear of the master’s wrath.
nor is Paul calling for
a work of self-preservation that out of fear seeks to save ourselves from spiritual or bodily harm.
Both of these would be fears of faithlessness and ignorant of the lovingkindness of God.
Paul is calling us to work out of reverence and awe for all that God is in His holiness, justice, sovereignty, power, and grace, all supremely revealed in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And before Paul can even provide a single line of instruction he goes back to the foundation saying
“for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
There is no desire or work we accomplish that God has not brought about by His power and for His own satisfaction and glory.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
I hope these few verses would give us a great sense of comfort and motivation. We are not masters of our own transformation nor are we lords of even our wills.
Should we find ourselves lacking the will or the works we know we ought, there is hope for us in knowing that God is working in us to will and work according to His good pleasure. He is not reluctant to transform our hearts into the character of Christ. Knowing this, let us pray like it’s true.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
Might we bring our hearts to the Lord as the Psalmist knowing our loves and our passions need His transforming work and His sustaining power.
...
At the end of the day, let us be diligent to work as God has called us to, yet not in an unholy fear, but a holy fear of faith knowing we are His workmanship and He delights to shape us into the image of Christ.
Might we too be diligent in our prayers for the hearts which will the works that God delights in.
Thankfully, Paul gives us a sense of direction regarding our work...
The work of the word for our contented witness.
The work of the word for our contented witness.
Notes:
Do all things without grumbling or disputing;
so that you will 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,
holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.
Have you ever been walking in a park or a boardwalk by the beach somewhere. You may see a lot of interesting characters doing different things, but every once in a while you see someone just sitting on the bench doing nothing just enjoying the view. It’s noticeable isn’t it? There’s a recognizable contentment and peace in those people who simply sit and enjoy the view. It’s not flashy or noteworthy, but it is noticeable.
Of all the works to which Paul calls the church to set them apart from the crooked and perverse generation, he calls them to do everything without grumbling or disputing, the antithesis to contentment.
Should we look back briefly, God has been calling His people out of grumbling, disputing, and complaining from the very beginning.
When they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore it was named Marah.
So the people grumbled at Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”
The whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.
The sons of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
But the people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled against Moses and said, “Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”
If we look at the greater story of Exodus we recognize that the people of Israel continually failed to trust in the Lord who miraculously delivered them from the hands of the Egyptians.
As God gave them the ten commandments he reminded them,
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 20
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
We’ve been talking in Wednesday night Bible study about gratitude as one of the fundamental characteristics of our Christian faith. I believe contentment sits right there alongside gratitude. It’s that disposition of faith that if abandoned gives way to all kinds of transgression.
Remember how fast Israel forgot God their deliverer and His deliverance and made Aaron build them a golden calf at the foot of the mountain. They grew impatient and discontent having forgot God and his deliverance and resorted to idolatry.
Furthermore, how many of the commands given to Israel stem from a heart of discontentment and grumbling?
Covetousness
Stealing
Adultery
Murder
Perhaps most notably, was it not a heart of discontentment that led Adam and Eve to take of the fruit believing that they were not given all they needed in the rest of the garden?
The one thing that most fundamentally sets us apart from the rest of the world is our faith in Christ who saved us and has promised to bring us to the end. It’s only reasonable then to conclude that the fruit of our faith would also set us apart from the world - that fruit being the contentment in the wilderness between our miraculous deliverance and the promised land.
This being set apart in contentment and faith is not an unnoticeable reality though in many ways it is subtle. Paul describes the church
“as lights in the world,”
The word for light refers to the light of a star. It is a small yet, profoundly noticeable light in the darkness of the night.
I believe it is good to pursue a presence in the world like that of the church in Acts, a presence of bold witness and fearless proclamation of the gospel, yet I believe Paul paints a more ordinary yet equally praiseworthy picture of what it is to be lights in the world. Simple, every day contentment founded in the faith we have in Christ’s care for us.
“We might ask ourselves, are we caught up in all the pursuits and needs of the world - busying ourselves with entertainment, the next new thing, waiting for just a little bit more of this or that...”
Are we able to sit on the park bench, put down the busyness of the world and all its pursuits and say, “Christ is enough for me.”
It’s easy to say, it’s another thing to wake up on Monday and not think about all the demands on our lives and all the things we need. That’s real.
How do we do that? What is the work of our second point?
“holding fast the word of life”
We live as lights in the world by setting ourselves apart in contentment and holding fast to the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the good news (The Word) by which we have life.
The reason the Israelites continued to complain was they continually forgot about their deliverance and their deliverer. So God continued to remind them of the good news of their deliverance sometimes in painful ways so that they would trust Him and be content.
We never cease from needing to be reminded of our great deliverance and our great deliver. In that faith-filled remembering we find contentment, the freedom to lay aside all the empty pursuits of the world and shine as lights in the world.
This remembering the gospel is our means of endurance.
Paul says,
holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.
Paul looks ahead and anticipates a day when the church, having held fast to the word of life, the gospel of Christ, will be glorified with Christ on that last day and Paul will recognize fully the fruit of His labor.
At this point we recognize our third work...
The work of ministry for our joyful faith.
The work of ministry for our joyful faith.
Notes:
But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.
You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.
Paul describes his service in no uncertain terms:
Running
Toiling
Sacrifice
These few verses are perhaps supremely for the few here, myself included, who seek to shepherd the flock of Christ. We have a pretty clear mission and method in this simple verse.
The mission: the well-being of the faith of the saints.
The method: A sacrificial toil not unlike that of our good Shepherd who gave of Himself to the utmost that our faith might lead to life and endure to the end.
Paul’s example bids every pastor and elder a few important question, but I believe they’re questions we all ought to ask ourselves.
Do we have a concern for the faith of the saints when we come to church on Sunday morning?
Do we have a concern for the faith of the saints when we get up on Monday morning?
Are we willing to sacrifice for the good of the flock?
As much as Paul’s example ought to be before the eyes of every pastor, we know that the work of ministry is not exclusive to those with offices in the church.
Pastor’s are given the task of equipping the church for the work of ministry and as each of us are therefore ministers in accord with our respective gifts, we would do well to consider if we have attended ourselves to the same mission and method which Paul has given us. Next week we’re going to be introduced to Epaphroditus, an ordinary church member who nearly died for the well-being of the faith of His church.
A few questions we can all ask ourselves:
Firstly, we all need to ask the question
What gifts has God given me?
Leadership
Helps
Administration
Mercy
Exhortation
Giving
How do I implement those gifts in service of the church’s common faith?
We may be tempted to think that some gifts are unhelpful, not useful because they don’t have an explicit spiritual benefit.
When we look at Paul’s concern for the church and the evident gifts he used we just admit, I don’t match up to Paul therefore I don’t have a role.
The responsibility for the well-being of the church’s faith is not exclusive to those with the gifts of teaching and preaching. Paul an apostle is expressing what is a concern that every Christian ought to have. How is the faith of my brother today? How is the faith of my sister today? We all together as a body play a role in the well-being of each other’s faith, and we nurture the faith of our brother’s and sisters by using the gifts God has given us. Those gifts may be ordinary and go largely unnoticed but at the end of the day they absolutely serve the well-being of the church.
I see it every week here at Two Rivers. It’s really amazing. There are so many things that I’ve seen so many of you do to help this church that go unnoticed every week. Thank you!
If you’re a member here and you feel you don’t have a place to serve here maybe take some time to seriously ask that question. Where am I gifted? If you’d like to talk that over with one of the elders, please don’t hesitate to reach out to one of us.
Am I willing to sacrifice?
It’s a simple question, but it’s easily turned legalistic if I’m not careful. Sacrifice can be turned into a dutiful task characterized by mere grit. I don’t believe Paul’s sacrifice for the church has any reluctant duty to it all. Paul genuinely loves and cherishes the church the same way Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us. Our willingness to sacrifice is directly proportional to our love for the beneficiary.
As we ask ourselves that question, “Am I willing to sacrifice for the good of the church?” and we find a hesitancy, then I believe the appropriate response is to come to the Lord with our hearts the way the Psalmist does from our previous point.
“Father renew a right spirit within me. Give me a heart of love for your church that you do. Use me as you will for the good of my brothers and sisters. Lead my heart and direct my path with the gifts you’ve given me.”
We see pretty evidently Paul’s love for the church and His abundant willingness to give of Himself in His joy.
He says,
But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.
You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.
Paul’s absolute delight is the well-being of the church.
Every sacrifice, every moment of toiling is worth it because His joy is to see the church hold fast to the faith and endure to the end.
But this joy is not one he keeps to himself. He says,
“I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.”
As Christians we have every reason to set ourselves apart from the world in contentment and joy.
The world labors and toils without the assurance of a loving Father or the assurance that in the end all will be made well. The burden of their salvation perpetually rests on their own shoulders thus robbing them of all joy whether they notice it or not.
Paul makes it evident that the church and he himself labor and toil, but it is with a sure hope that in the end, the work will be complete, salvation will be accomplished, Christ will reign, and we will dwell in His presence and glory for all eternity. For this reason, we can rejoice with one another today though we toil tomorrow.
At the root of this hope is He who poured Himself out as the once for all sacrifice for sins. For the joy set before Him he endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. He died that we might rejoice with Him together as His beloved bride.
Today, with the accomplished work of Christ at the cross and the hope of His resurrection we have every reason rejoice together.
And with that hope, might we be willing to be servants as Christ was, poured out as Christ was for the good of the church with whatever means and gifting He has entrusted to us.
In this striving for one another we grow together, find reason after reason to rejoice together, and grow in the contentment which bears witness to the world of our confession, “Christ is enough.”
Let’s pray.
