Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro:

What’s up Campus Church?

You guys doing alright?

Well, if you have your Bibles why don’t you go ahead and grab those and turn them with me to .

While you are turning there let me just welcome you to Campus Church.

If you’re new with us, I hope that you feel welcomed.

This is morning we are continuing our sermon series through the book of Philippians.

If you were with us last week we looked where Paul tells us the importance of gospel unity and how unity can only be achieved through humility.

Our text this morning is directly related to last weeks.

We looked at Christ’s humility… of how he...

...loved us and died for us and forgave us and accepted us and justified us and gave us eternal life and made us heirs of the world when he owed us nothing.

He treated us as worthy of his service when we were not worthy of his service.

He took thought not only for his own interests but for ours.

He counted us as greater than himself.

And...

If King Jesus can humble himself from the point of being God… how can we not humble ourselves by counting our own brothers and sisters as more important?

Only when we do this will we be a united church that matures in the gospel and see more lives changed by the gospel.

We experience unity as a church through humbling ourselves.. by counting our brothers and sisters as more important than ourselves.

And why do we care about unity within the church?

If you remember from last week we gave three reasons...

1. Unity keeps Christ at the center.

Ephesian 1:10b, Paul says,

​English Standard Version Chapter 1to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

None of this is about you or me.

It’s all about Christ.

My plans, my desires, my preferences, my agenda, and my feelings are nothing compared to the gospel.

When we become unified around that mission it changes everything and makes our churches more effective in fulfilling God’s mission for our lives.

2. Unity keeps the church growing.

says,

​English Standard Version Chapter 1212 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.

When we are united to the mission of Jesus we will move forward and see the gospel advance.

And we will grow in maturity as we live in community with one another centered around the Bible.

3. Jesus prayed for unity.

In , Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer.

Listen to what he says in vs. 23.

​Christian Standard Bible Chapter 17:23 I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me

It’s important to Jesus, it should be important to us.

As we grow in unity with each other, we grow in unity with Jesus.

Paul likes to give these incredibly deep theological passages in his writings and what he usually does is he goes right into doxology or praise.

He usually says something like to Him be glory forever and ever.

amen.

But in Paul doesn’t do this.

Instead he goes right in application.

He gives the so what to the doctrine that he just gave.

Have you ever been around Christians who love theology and doctrine but don’t do anything with what they know?

I read this story about...

An old boatman painted the word “faith” on one oar of his boat and “works” on the other.

He was asked his reason for this.

In answer, he slipped the oar with “faith” into the water and rowed.

The boat, of course, made a very tight circle.

Returning to the dock, the boatman then said, “Now, let’s try ‘works’ without ‘faith’ and see what happens.

The oar marked “works” was put in place and the boatman began rowing with just the “works” oar.

Again the boat went into a tight circle but in the opposite direction.

When the boatman again returned to the wharf, he interpreted his experiment in these strong and convincing words, “You see, to make a passage across the lake, one needs both oars working simultaneously in order to keep the boat in a straight and narrow way.

If one does not have the use of both oars, he makes no progress either across the lake nor as a Christian.

Faith and works are crucial for the life of a disciple.

Do you remember what James says?

18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.”

Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works.

19 You believe that God is one.

Good!

Even the demons believe—and they shudder.

So if you have your Bibles open to Philippians chapter 2 lets look at Paul’s application to his Christology… Verse 12...

12 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.

13 For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose.

14 Do everything without grumbling and arguing, 15 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, 16 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.

17 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.

18 In the same way you should also be glad and rejoice with me.

This is the first application that Paul gives the Philippian believers...

Work out your salvation through obedience (vs.

12-13).

Paul says,

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.

Paul is appealing to the church of Philippi to continue to obey God by obeying what they have learned from the Scriptures and from him.

It’s easy to say that we believe the gospel.

It’s easy to say that we know and belong to Jesus.

But obedience is the true evidence of having faith in God.

Do you remember what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7? You can turn back there if you want.

This is during his famous Sermon on the Mount.

He’s teaching his own disciples and many onlookers who are curious.

Listen to what he says in verses 21-23...

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ 23 Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you.

Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’,B,

Those who say this acknowledge Jesus as master.

The affirmation that Jesus is Lord is meaningless if it is not backed by obedience to God’s will.

This is a terrifying reality.

That there are those within the church who will raise their hands in worship, who will go to every church service, they’ll participate in community groups and every outreach event, we’ve even seen earlier in Philippians that they can even preach the gospel… but if their life is not marked by obedience to the Word of God then they aren’t really a part of God’s people.

There is a widespread false teaching in the evangelical church today is that you can believe in Jesus as your Savior, but that obeying Him as your master is optional.

There are so many people within the church today that have a false assurance because at some point in their lives someone led them through a prayer and wrote down the date in the front of their Bibles to keep as a reminder.

The problem with that is that whether or not you recited a prayer, if you never truly believed and were changed… it meant nothing.

If you can’t look back on your life and seen some growth in Christ… some sanctification… If you do not look more like Jesus today then you did last year then there is a problem.

I believe that it is important for every Christian to test themselves against Scripture to make sure that they truly believe.

This is something that I do myself often.

Paul says in

5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith.

Examine yourselves.

Or do you yourselves not recognize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless you fail the test.

In 1 John, the Apostle John gives test after test for you to examine yourself like this.

He asks questions like: have you experienced fellowship with God? Are you walking in darkness or light?