Philippians 2v12-18
Notes
Transcript
Learning piano. Wanted to be brilliant! Concert level. Able to play anything, anywhere, anytime. With such great ambition you’d expect serious commitment – hours of practice every day, meticulously learning scales and arpeggios, mastering the classics of Mozart, Beethoven and Rachmaninov. Instead, I plodded through scales half an hour before lesson. Never made it past grade 2! Trouble was, I expected to get better without even trying.
Would have been no better (worse) if I didn’t have lessons at all. If I’d tried to improve by myself with no teacher to direct me, point out bad habits, suggest pieces to learn and prepare me for exams. I needed both help and dedication to become a better pianist, let alone a legendary maestro!
But becoming a better pianist is far less important than becoming a better follower of Jesus. Not just doing and saying all the right things, but growing as like Jesus.
And yet sometimes we fall into the same traps! We might expect that we’ll grow as faithful, bold, brilliant disciples without really having to try, or having a plan, or setting goals. Or we try to do it all in our own strength without God’s help or the help of His people.
So how do we become better Christians? That’s Paul is talking about. He wants the Philippians to have the mind of Christ – humble, servant-hearted, sacrificial love for each other. That’s why he put the awesome song about Jesus into his letter, to show us what we are to be like.
Paul is thrilled with the Philippians, and he loves them dearly. He’s heard that they’re going on well in the Lord.
But now he wants them to keep growing…
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,
He wants them to carry on becoming more like Jesus. But what does it look like practically, in everyday life? What needs to happen for a group of Christians like us to get better at being Christians, to become more like Jesus?
We all want that don’t we? We all want to be more faithful, and more fruitful for the Lord. So we need to look together at what Paul said to the Philippians as he encouraged them to keep going and to keep growing as Christians.
As we’ve already seen, he told them to …
Work out
Work out
…their salvation.
‘Work out your salvation’ is not the same as working for your salvation. Salvation is already theirs/ours through faith in Christ. That’s why he can call them saints in 1:1.
But having been saved by Jesus they are to now live for Jesus as they become more like Jesus. That’s the meaning behind ‘work out your salvation.’
This is literally, ‘work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.’ We’ll look at each part of the phrase in turn…
Work out
Work out
Work! Just like I needed to put in the effort to practice and improve my piano skills, so we as believers have to be deliberate, disciplined and active in becoming more like Jesus.
It’s no good waiting around for something to change - we all have a duty to each other to be serious about our discipleship. That means diligence in reading and studying scripture, discipline in prayer, commitment to the life of the church and a home group, being alert to opportunities for the gospel.
Becoming like Jesus doesn’t just happen – we must continue to work out our salvation.
Our own salvation
Our own salvation
No one else can do it for us. It’s as though Paul is saying: ‘Look, guys, I’m in prison now. I might die. I can’t hold your hand 24/7. You’ve got to take some responsibility for your own walk with Jesus. You’ve got to stand on your own two feet as believers.’
We need each other to help us stay encouraged, to be accountable, to pick each other up when we’re down, to celebrate together when we’re up.
But we can’t be totally dependent on each other for growing as disciples; we must take responsibility for working out our own salvation. This is how…
With fear and trembling
With fear and trembling
What a strange phrase! Why is it here? What does Paul want from us when he tells us to ‘work out our own salvation with fear and trembling’? He can’t mean that we should live our Christian lives before God terrified of being zapped if we don’t get it right.
Rather he means that we should live our lives before God with respect for who is he, what he’s done and especially what he is doing. We are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. That’s how, this is why…
Because God is working in you
Because God is working in you
for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose.
God is the one who has rescued us; God is the one who started the work of salvation in us and he is the one who will finish it (1:6).
God lives in us to do that work – the Spirit works to transform our minds so that we think more like Jesus; the Spirit works in our lives so that we look more like Jesus; the Spirit works to change our hearts so that we are more like Jesus.
Without God’s help we will never grow as Christians. That doesn’t mean we don’t need to work at it! It means that as we work we need his strength and his power to be working in us. That’s why we should work out our salvation with fear and trembling; living reverent lives in dependence upon God and seeking his help to grow.
If I had more respect for my piano teacher, the one who helped me play in the first place I might have practiced a lot and achieved more as a pianist.
God has started a work and he will carry it on until it’s finished. We should never forget that, and we should look to grow in Christ with his help.
So growing as Christians means working out our salvation with fear and trembling with God’s help. The result will be that we live distinctive lives so that we…
Stand out
Stand out
Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’ Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky
Our generation is crooked and depraved. Our government is legalising sinful practices. Our media is celebrating immorality of all kinds.
The heroes of our generation are celebrities who cheat on their partners, take drugs, pay for sex and abuse others. The enemies of our generation are those who openly question all that our generation prizes.
It was no different in Philippi. Christians stuck out like sore thumbs in that big Roman city. They didn’t worship idols. They didn’t prize profit. They pledged allegiance to a different King than Caesar. They were to stand out in that generation.
Paul wasn’t telling the Philippians to get in people’s faces and tell them how wrong their lives were. He wasn’t advocating picket lines and demonstrations against idolatry and depravity.
Rather he was saying ‘ Be so different that people notice. Stand out like stars in the darkness.‘ Just live good lives. Be good neighbours/ citizens. Watch what you say. When others are gossiping and slandering, don’t join in. When they’re stealing or bunking off work or school, don’t go along with it.
Stand out like stars in the sky.
If you’ve ever seen the ISS pass over, it’s hard to miss. It stands out because it’s different to anything else in the sky. Not an aeroplane – it moved too fast. Not a star – it was too bright. It was unmistakable.
Do you live your life in such a way that you are unmistakably a follower of Jesus? Would anyone have reason to doubt that you belong to Jesus? You see, it’s not simply how we live but who we are living for to will make us stand out. Growing as a disciple means standing out as a disciple of Jesus.
And as we stand out in our generation we’ll have the opportunity to be…
Hold out
Hold out
…the word of life to our generation. Paul says stand out from your generation…
as you hold firmly to the word of life.
Is probably ‘holding fast to the word of life.’ In other words, keep obeying the word of life.
It has the sense of keeping your attention fixed on something, or keeping a close watch on something.
But the Philippians are to keep their attention on the word of in a specific context: in the midst of a crooked and depraved generation. In fact, it’s their obedience to God’s word in a dark world will make them stand out as shining lights.
I hate horror films, or anything that is vaguely scary. I once thought it would be a good idea for me and Amy to watch one. I regretted that decision for weeks. They always seem to walk into the darkness in scary films. They always walk away from the light and into the darkness. Why would you do that?!
The Philippians are to stick to the light, to keep their attention on the word of life that makes them shine. Their shining as followers of Jesus will light up the darkness and draw others to the light.
It’s as they stay faithful to God in his word (holding fast to the word of life) that they will be holding out the word of life to the generation they belong to, inviting people to find true life in Jesus, showing people how the hope they have in Jesus is far greater than the hopelessness of life without Jesus.
As we grow in our faith, in our walk with Christ, in our love for him and our desire to follow him, it will make us shine in our dark world, and as we shine those still walking in darkness will be drawn to Jesus and will want to know him, find out more about him, and with his help they will put their faith in him.
Holding fast to the word of life is also to hold out the word of life, ready to speak for Christ whenever we get the opportunity.
But all of this sounds like hard work, doesn’t it? Paul knows how hard it is to keep going with Jesus and to keep growing with Jesus. That’s why he talks about himself being poured out like a drink offering.
Pour out
Pour out
But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.
Yes, it’s hard work, but is it worth it?
Paul is facing possible death by execution, depending on the outcome of his trial in Rome. He’s in prison for preaching the gospel of Christ.
Is it worth being poured out like a drink offering? Is it worth losing his life for the sake of the sacrifice and service that the Philippians are displaying? Paul definitely seems to think so!
In fact, Paul seems to think that it’s a cause for rejoicing, to have laboured so hard, for so long, and with such a dismal end. Because the fruit of his labour is a church in Philippi that is still going for Jesus, and still growing for Jesus.
Learning to play piano or any instrument is jolly hard work, especially if you want to achieve legendary status! Is it worth it? Absolutely!
Life is already hard enough without having to worry about growing stronger as Christians. There are bills to pay, mouths to feed, exams to sit, jobs to do. There are a million and one demands on our time and energy. The labour and toil of life robs us of our joy, doesn’t it?
So we think that adding another pressure, another demand – the demand of keeping going and growing with Jesus – will leave us completely empty of joy. But Paul says the opposite is true.
Pouring ourselves out in working hard to grow in Jesus, in standing out for Jesus, in holding out Jesus to others is totally worth it, AND instead of robbing us of joy it fills us with joy!
Why? Because we’re investing in eternal things, things that bring glory to Jesus as we grow in his likeness and help others to do the same.
The bills, the job, the time demands of the modern world will rob us of joy until the day we die. But we can find our joy in something better: in sacrifice and serving that comes from our faith and from the faith of others.
Becoming better Christians doesn’t mean getting better at doing Christian things. It means becoming more fruitful, more faithful and more joyful in Jesus as we keep going and growing with him.
Is it worth it?
Come thou fount
