Shine Like Stars
Notes
Transcript
INTRO
INTRO
Have you ever been told to “just try harder” ?
It could be by anyone
parent mad at your about grades, sports, or something at home
coach in the middle of a game when you keep getting beat
teacher when you are struggling with an assignment
maybe it was you telling yourself when you are trying to do something
I know I do that all the time
“Gosh, Fisher just try harder or do better”
We’ve all heard those words before whether
said to you or about you
Why?
Well again, just like last week with pride, our culture preaches it to us
Our culture is constantly saying:
“you got this”
“believe in yourself”
“just work harder”
“keep pushing”
While these words are ment to be empowering… eventually they just become exhausting
Why?
because the reality is that there comes a point in which you can’t dig any deeper, you can’t try any harder, you just don’t have it
and you fall short
TENSION
TENSION
What is scary about this reality is that it doesn’t just happen
on the field
in the classroom
at home
or in your mind
A lot of times we let this “just try harder” mentality enter our walk with Jesus
Our litmus test for our relationship with God aka our test to know how good it is
is determined by how good we are doing
how hard are we trying at this Jesus thing
And like on the field, in the classroom, or at home…
we fall short
and again, start to realize that we can’t try hard enough to meet Jesus’ standard of being his disciple that He set
So, we start believing the lie that we are far from God or we are not on good terms with Him anymore because
we aren’t doing good enough
So, we need to just try harder…
But here is the good news for us tonight
Paul is not going to tell us to just try harder at this following Jesus thing
Paul, is going to remind us tonight who is actually at work in us
TRUTH
TRUTH
Remember, Paul has just finished writing his “Christ Hymn” that we focused on last week
he now transitions in the application of that hymn
Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
The first thing Paul says is to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”
Working Out ≠ Working For
Work out means to live out, display, or put into action
Think about a Gym Membership
Just because you have a gym membership doesn’t mean you use it
but what your membership does is give you access to everything you need (equipment)
it’s showing up and using the equipment that actually put yours your membership into action… it displays it
you don’t have to go to the gym and earn access to it… you already have that
you go to the gym to exercise to put into action what has been given to you
This is what Paul is trying to get at…
When you put your faith and trust in Jesus you instantly receive salvation
you have full access to God
His attention
His love
His forgiveness
His grace
His mercy
the whole 9
full access 24/7/365
But after receiving this salvation, this access to Him, he calls us to live it out
to put into action outwardly what has done in your inwardly
God says…
I have made you a new creation —> live like it
I have forgiven your sins —> live like it
I have freed you from the bondage of sin —> live like it
I have given you my love —> live like it
Working for your salvation is working for God’s approval
Working out your salvation is working from God approval
You don’t have to earn the membership
Jesus already paid for it
You just need to live out, display, put into action what He has given you
But here is the good news about working out your salvation…
you don’t do it alone
For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose.
That kinda sounds confusing but what Paul is saying is that
The reason you can work it out is because is working in you
Paul is reminding us that we are not left to follow Jesus on our own strength
we are not spiritually “hitting the gym” by ourselves everday
God is your trainer —> tells you what is best to do
God is your strength —> gives you the ability to do it
God is your motivation —> He is the why behind why you do it
God is your power —> He is the source of how you can do it
God gives you both the desire (“the will”) and the ability (“to work”) to live in obedience
God doesn’t look at us after salvation and say:
“Here’s how you need to live now… good luck, I’ll see ya in heaven!”
That’s the furthest thing from the truth
Paul is saying the complete opposite
that every act of obedience
every time you resist sin
every time you choose forgiveness
every time you choose to follow Jesus rather than the world
no matter how big or small it seems
no matter is a 1000 people sees it or no one see’s it
Your obedience is always a result of God giving you the desire to do it and the ability to do it
Simply put…
We work because He works
He is the engine in the car
He is the power outlet
our job isn’t to manufacture or create the power to obey; it is simply to live out the power that has been given to us
But Paul isn’t done
Do everything without grumbling and arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world, by holding firm to the word of life. Then I can boast in the day of Christ that I didn’t run or labor for nothing.
Paul just told us why we can obey —> God works in us
Now, he tells us how we should obey —> without grumbling
Now, let’s be real for a second
grumbling is probably one of the easiest sins to commit and to justify
we call it “venting”
we call it “just being honest”
Yet at the core of grumbling is a very serious issue
when we grumble we are saying “God, i don’t like the way you are running my life right now”
Which means Paul isn’t calling out minor complaining
He is actually reaching back to a time in Israel’s history
Remember Israel in the wilderness...
God just rescued them out of horrendous slavery by the Egyptians for over 400 years
He spilt the red sea right in front of them
He was feeding them everyday
He was leading them day and night
and their response… Complaining
“we want to go back to Egpyt!”
The Israelites grumbling displayed their lack of trust in God
that He had a good plan for them
that He was good at all
And Paul reaches back to that story to say…
“DON’T BE LIKE THEM!!”
You’re are my new covenant people
You’re the bride of Christ
The Israelites, yes, they were freedom form slavery
but you, you were freed from sin
which is far greater
So, with that perspective… “do everything without grumbling”
like everything
not just the easy things
not just when it feels fair or right
even when it’s hard
even when it’s frustrating
even when it’s unfair
even when you don’t feel like it
Why?
because when you do… the world sees something different in you
Paul describes it as “shining like stars” in a dark and broken world
Think about the stars...
their sole job is to shine
they don’t argue with the darkness —> they just shine
they don’t complain about the darkness —> they just shine
And Paul goes…
that’s exactly how the church is suppose to be
shining bright in a dark world
When you go about life with joy in all circumstances, not complaining about anything
you stand out
you are shining to
family
friends
coworkers
teammates
whoever
Now, pause…
that sounds great and all
but how in the world do we actually do that?
“By holding firm to the word of life”
AKA the Gospel
the good news of Jesus
that he lived the sinless life we couldn’t
died the sinners death we deserved on the cross
and rose again 3 days later
When you hold on to the Gospel, everything changes…
you have no need to grumble when you remember
God’s grace
forgiveness
love
freedom
you have no need to complain when you remember
Jesus has already overcome
Paul wants us to understand that
Holding on to the gospel turns our grumbling into glowing
Then Paul wraps it all up by telling the Philippians
“you want to know what this looks like? Just look at me”
But even if I am poured out as a drink offering on the sacrificial service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. In the same way you should also be glad and rejoice with me.
Paul… sitting in house arrest
unsure if he is getting out alive or not
yet he is not complaining
no: “why me God??”
He is just rejoicing
He reaches back in the OT again
“even if I am poured out as a drink offering”
alluding to the OT practice of the drink offering preformed as the final act of worship in the sacrificial services
“Even if my lie ends here, it’s worth it if means your faith keeps growing”
Paul views his suffering as worhisp
his hardship as an offering to the Lord
giving him not a reason to complain but to rejoice
He is teaching the Philippians and us that
You can choose joy even when it cost you because God is still working in you
In fact we can summarize all that Paul is has said tonight in one simple statement
BOTTOM LINE: We work because He works
BOTTOM LINE: We work because He works
Paul understood this better than anyone
He knew every good thing in his life
every act of obedience
every time he persevered
every time he had joy in the toughest of circumstances
it was always a result of God working through him
He even once said…
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
This means before you ever did anything, God was already writing your story
before you ever took your first step of obedience, He had already paved the path
Paul saw his own ministry this way
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
You hear that?
Paul… the Apostle Paul
says, “I worked harder than anyone… but it wasn’t me —> it was God working through me”
And that is the heart of this whole passage
we don’t work for God’s love —> we work because because we already have it
we don’t obey to earn grace —> we obey because grace is working in us
It’s not try harder —> It’s trust deepers
It’s not self-improvement —> It’s Spirit-empowerment
it’s not “I’ve got this” —> It’s “He’s got this”
So when following Jesus feels impossible
when it feels like you have nothing left
when obedience feels unreachable
remember…
you’re not doing this alone
the God who saved you is working in you
BOTTOM LINE: We work because He works
BOTTOM LINE: We work because He works
RESPONSE
RESPONSE
Maybe you are in here and you are running on empty
you’ve been trying to follow Jesus on your own power
trying to be good enough
trying to be strong enough
trying to be obedient enough
But that is not the gospel…
The gospel isn’t do
The gospel is done
So, tonight if you have been beating yourself up saying, “I just need to be better”
remind yourself it is God who is at work
And when He is at work in you
He changes your desires
He gives you the strength to obey
He gives you joy when life gets hard
He helps you shine in a dark world
But, maybe for some of you, that starts with surrender
actually trusting Jesus as your Lord and savior
finally stop working for your salvation
finally stop trying to earn your salvation
realizing that you can’t
and you don’t have to
Jesus has already done the work on the cross for you
So stop striving and start surrendering
Let God save you and work through you
But for those who already belong to Jesus
keep going
keep obeying
keep shining
not because you are strong enough but because He is faithful enough
Remembering…
that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
