A Contrast Of Spirit | Philippians 2:12-18

A Contrast Of Spirit | Philippians 2:12-18

Opening Remarks

Back in Philippians 2 tonight.

Last time we looked at The Mind Of Christ and how it should impact our humility toward each other

Christ was willing to be humble in spite of the cost.

Humility always costs something. Letting go of our proud is hard.

But the cost of the moment is worth it in the end.

Christ’s humility toward us resulted in our salvation.

Our humility toward others can result in God’s glory.

Then Paul expands the application a bit.

To this point in chapter 2, He’s speaking to Believers and the impact humility can have on each other. But the scope gets bigger beginning in Vs. 12.

READ Vs. 12-18

TITLE “A Contrast Of Spirit”

PRAY

Introduction:

I’ve been thinking about lights lately

Light Fixtures

Recently I changed two light fixtures in our house - one in our closet and another in the bathroom

It’s amazing how hard it is to do normal every day things without light

More than once, with the light in our closet, I grabbed the wrong article of clothing and didn’t realize it till I walked into the bedroom

Stair Lighting at Christmas Carol

I noticed the importance of lights on Friday night when the couples on Couples Retreat went to see the Christmas Carol in downtown Minneapolis. When the house lights went down, they had lights right above each step so that people wouldn’t fall down and over the balcony during the show.

Northern Lights

Many of those of us at Missions Revival saw the Northern Lights after one of the evening services. It was quite a sight.

But it got me to thinking about light.

Light is necessary because there are things we need to see.

What I mean is, light illuminates something else. It makes something visible that needs to be seen.

There’d be no reason for a light in the closet if there was nothing in the closet. The light helps us see the clothes.

There’d be no reason for stair lighting if you couldn’t walk there. The light helps us see the steps.

But what about the Northern Lights? I think those are just there so we can look at them and think about God. They point to a Creator.

Light points to something else.

And Paul talks about the need for God’s people to be light here in Philippians 2. And he presents a wonderful picture that we’ll get to in just a little bit.

Paul’s Primary Message In Philippians Is One Of Joy

He wrote about it many times in this little book.

And it shows up again in this passage.

A Spirit Of Genuine Joy is something that can only be produced through a relationship with Christ.

I’m not saying people can’t be happy, but happiness is based on circumstances.

Joy exists in spite of circumstances. That’s why Paul says in Phil. 3 “Rejoice In The Lord.”

Joy is that deep rooted sense of peace and contentment in spite of what we face because of Who we know.

When you know Jesus, that outpaces anything that happens to you.

And that’s what Paul ends up at in Vs. 18.

But he takes an interesting path to get there.

Neither Paul nor the Philippians were living lives of ease.

Paul was a prisoner in Rome, so he was in a tough spot.

And the Philippians were dealing with the persecution that came along with being a first century Christian.

And that outside pressure was impacting their unity.

Illustration: That’s not surprising. We tend to have conflict when things are hard

Loss, Money Problems, Stress

They certainly were dealing with trouble and disunity, but Paul reminds them that they could avoid strife if they would be humble like Jesus Christ was humble.

Being humble in your heart will impact how you treat others, in spite of your circumstances.

With that thought, Paul presents this principle:

I. The Christian Life Is Lived Inside Out

Vs 12 – Paul begins with a “Wherefore.”

It means “so then” or “for this reason.” It connects Vs. 1-11 with Vs. 12 and after.

Paul is saying, “Wherefore, knowing that Christ was willing to humble Himself for us and obey His Father unto death, and that He was rewarded with great joy because of His obedience, live your life in the same way with humility and obedience and you’ll also have great reward.” Which we’ll get to later.

Vs. 12b – “…not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence.”

“Whether or not I’m around, continue your growth.”

If their spiritual depended on Paul’s presence, they were in trouble because he wasn’t always going to be around.

I preach a message to young people out of this text and I use the example of riding a bike.

This is Paul’s way of saying, “It’s time take off the training wheels.”

Put on your big boy pants.

Move out of the basement and start adulting.

At some point your Christian walk has to become yours. So Paul says, “Don’t look at me, look at Christ. His humility. His obedience. His exaltation. Live your Christian life motivated by that.”

If that could become the source of the Philippians’ faith, they would then be enabled to “work out” their own salvation with or without Paul.

“Work out your own salvation…” simply means “don’t stop halfway.” It implies completion. If God has this much in store for you, don’t settle way over here.

Verse 12 talks about “working out” and verse 13 talks about “working in.”

As we grow in our Christian lives, God works in us and the evidence is worked out.

The Christian life is lived inside out. It starts with God working in and and then we work it out as far as we can take it.

God does the work internally, and we give evidence to the change externally.

Illustration: Driving a vehicle. It can’t go unless it has fuel, but does the fuel get in the car and start it and drive it around? No, but could we drive the car without the fuel? No! It takes both, but it starts with the fuel.

That’s the Christian life. God works in. We work out. As God works in us, we cooperate and work “out.”

He’s providing the fuel, but we’re driving the vehicle.

If you’re going to see your Christian life to its completion and not settle for just some of what God offers, it takes His power and your obedience.

So don’t forget the connection to Christ – as Christ surrendered completely and obeyed perfectly, we ought to do the same.

So what does this look like?

II. What It Means To “Work Out”

Vs. 14 – “Do all things without murmurings and disputings.”

Seems a little random. Of all the things Paul could have chosen to give as an example of “working out” he chooses murmuring and disputings.

Murmur is a fun word.

It’s called “murmur” because that’s what it sounds like when you murmur.

It’s an onomatopoeia. Like the word “boom” or “splash.” They are words based on the sound.

Murmur is an onomatopoeia. “Murmurmurmur”

Paul uses this as an example by saying, “Hey Believer, part of proving that God is working in you is to serve God without murmuring and complaining.”

Jesus obeyed without murmuring. He didn’t hold on to the throne and say, “I’m not going!” He didn’t get down here and say, “I can’t believe I have to live on this dirty planet and deal with these annoying people. Murmurmurmur.”

This is a tough lesson. Murmuring is a sign of spiritual immaturity. To complain about everything when it doesn’t go your way is a sign that God hasn’t worked in us enough.

Paul also uses the word “disputings.”

This means to be argumentative. We can be that way. Always with a comment or a “question” that we don’t really want an answer to. We’re just making a point.

“Disputings” comes from the same Greek word Christ used in Mark 7:21 when He said, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts…”

Every time this word is used in the NT, it’s negative. It always refers to evil thoughts or anxious reflection.

And, as Mark 7 reads, those evil thoughts and anxious reflections within will expose themselves in a spirit of being argumentative.

So Paul tells the Philippians to “Do all things” without murmurings and disputings.

Why? It’s not the spirit of Jesus Christ.

And notice, Paul doesn’t give us a list of situations in which we shouldn’t murmur and dispute. He says everything should be done without a spirit of grumbling and questioning.

This is important, because, when we complain, it’s a reflection of a selfish heart.

This whole passage has been about pride and selfishness and how we need to be humble instead. And a person with a complaining spirit is focused on self.

“I want my way above everything else, and if I don’t get it, I’ll make my discontentment known.”

But wait a second. Remember our example.

If anyone had a right to get His own way, it was Jesus, but even He submitted to the Father without murmuring or questioning.

That’s why Paul starts with this. To murmur is to act is if we deserve more than Jesus, who didn’t complain.

So Paul says, “Be like Jesus. Willingly submit to and obey God like Christ did instead of being selfish, unhappy, and letting everyone know it.”

If that spirit characterizes us, then we are not working out our salvation.

That spirit gives evidence that the process of growth, working inside out, is not taking place.

If you’re known to have a complaining spirit, that’s an indictment on God’s work in your life.

I’m not saying that a moment of murmuring means God’s not working in your life. That happens to all of us.

I’m talking about a life characterized by a spirit of murmuring and conflict. That is not the mind of Christ.

It’s a reflection on the kind of heart that we have.

Applications:

Whether at work or at home or at church, which is Paul’s primary application, a complaining spirit has no place among God’s people.

Unfortunately, it often finds its way in far too often.

And here’s why this matters.

III. Letting God’s Work Come Out Impacts More Than Just Us

We live in an angry world.

My wife has said it for years and it’s, “The whole world is angry.”

Everywhere you go, people are angry. Driving, standing in line, at work, at school, on TV, especially at Walmart.

People are unhappy about something. And it’s all rooted in the same thing – a self-centered heart that hates not getting its way.

Murmuring and disputing comes from that same spirit.

What is a full blown fight between two people vying for the same parking spot out there might be just a small tidbit of gossip about a fellow church member in here.

But make no mistake, the same spirit of self-centeredness is at the root of it all.

If God is working in, and we are working out, that spirit should rarely be present here.

So Paul Gives Us Reasons Why

Vs. 15 – Our ability to impact our world for Christ is dependent upon the contrast of our spirit with the world.

Contrast means strikingly different.

So if the world is full of discontentment and strife, God’s people should be the opposite. Sweet-spirited, joyful, and content.

There should be a striking contrast of spirit from out in the world to here in our church family.

By the way, apply this to our online interactions.

If someone says something you disagree with, remember this principle.

Does negative online engagement among God’s people have a strikingly different or similar tone to the world?

I’d say similarly. So this principle should do away with that.

Why?

Vs. 15 - “That ye may be blameless and harmless”

Blameless means above reproach. That no one has anything negative to say when your name comes up. As a church, we ought to live in such a way that those outside of Christ have nothing to accuse of.

Harmless means pure. It means undiluted.

Illustration: Erin left two pans of food on the table that she was going to bake when someone knocked on the front door. In the short time that she answered the door and came back, the dog had gotten up on the chair and licked one of the dishes.

So we threw the dog in the oven instead.

No, but we did throw one whole pan of food away. Because it was no longer pure.

Paul says our testimony should be so pure that there’s not even a hint of dilution.

The Sons of God without rebuke. Meaning the world won’t find fault in the Father. But they might find it in His children.

“In the midst of a crooked and perverse nation”

They’re used to messed up living. Many in the world have turned their backs on God. It could be said that most people in our country are living life upside-down. Exactly the opposite of what God intended.

So Paul says “live right-side up.” Vs. 15c – “Among whom ye shine as lights in the world.”

In the middle of darkness, our spirit will shine like a light.

But notice to what our lights bring attention

Vs. 16 - Holding forth the word of life.

Our spirit shines light on the Word as we hold it out.

Illustration - Holding out Bible with lights off, no one sees

That’s what happens when God’s people have the same spirit as the world.

They won’t see the Word of Life. There’s no reason for them to pay attention to the Word because our lights are hidden.

But when we have a spirit of contrast, it shines a light on the Word, which brings life to those in a crooked and perverse generation.

Vs. 16 - A Spirit of Contrast impacts our testimony, which impacts the lost seeing the Gospel, which impacts how we will one day stand before Jesus Christ at the Judgment Seat.

We will all stand before Him, but our Spirit here determines whether or not we stand with shame or joy.

Paul says, “That I may rejoice in the day of Christ.”

Joy in knowing that he didn’t waste his life.

So before you think “What’s the big deal with my attitude?”

Not much. Just your:

Testimony, Lost Souls, Judgment Seat Experience

Vs. 17-18 - “If I be offered upon that sacrifice and service of your faith”

He’s talking about being martyred for his faith. He uses the example of pouring out a drink offering.

“Even if I die serving Christ, if you shine as lights pointing this upside down world to Christ, my end will still be full of joy.”

And the implication is that the Philippians would have joy because of it too.

Closing Questions

1. Are you working inside out?

If you’re frustrated with your progress, maybe God’s not working in.

It could also be that while God is working in, you’re not doing anything to serve Him and work out.

2. Is your spirit one that contrasts the worlds’ or do they see more of the same in you?

This little light of mine.

Sometimes it’s the small things that make the best bushels.

Illustration: Hitting a piece of metal on the road, broke fuel line, couldn’t move forward, sometimes it’s the small things that most hold us back.

3. Are you doing your part to hold forth the word of life?

We have many areas of improvement, but that one is at the top.

Do you carry tracts with you?

Do you tell people you meet about Jesus?