HOW DOES THIS THING WORK?

HOW DOES THIS THING WORK? Philippians   2:12-13 September 12, 1999 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introductory I came into the computer age somewhat belatedly. Four years ago I was contentedly using my Smith Corona typewriter, sending all my messages snail mail and thinking the world-wide web was something that a gargantuan spider was weaving. Some friends who had been urging me to "come of age" finally prevailed. I ordered a computer, unpacked it, set it up (with a lot of help), then I remember sitting there looking at it, thinking, "How does this thing work?" There were really only two things I knew-- how to get the thing started and what I wanted to do with it. Unless I miss my guess, most of us started our Christian lives in a similar way. We heard the message about Jesus, came to understand that we were sinners in need of a Savior, received Christ as our Savior ("and Lord", someone said), and before the baptistery water had dried from our hair, we wondered, "Now I will live the Christian life--how does it work?" I had a good deal of enthusiasm, but very little direction. That happened to me when I was drafted into the army, too. I just went where uncle Sam told me to go, did what he told me to do, and within two days I had a uniform and no clue how to act like a soldier. That, they told me, was what boot camp was for. I remember seeing a sergeant, and I knew he outranked me, so I did like I'd seen soldiers in the movies do--I saluted him. As those who have served in the armed services know, you don't salute non-commissioned people like sergeants, and this sergeant set about teaching me that lesson by having me fall to the concrete and give him 50 pushups. So I began to learn how to behave as a soldier. (Actually I couldn't do 50--I struggled through four pushups in 10 minutes, and he told me to get up and get out of his face and muttered something about not having all day...) In two short verses, Paul summarizes how the Christian life works. The first 11 verses of chapter 2 of Philippians were all about taking on ourselves the attitude Jesus had when He humbled Himself, became a man and served us. I want to take just a few moments with you to analyze some key words in this text, on our way to learning how the Christian life works. Obey This is not a very popular word--obedience, is it? I've lost count of the number of bride's-to-be who, in the middle of pre-marital counseling, asked me, "You don't have the word 'obey' in your vows do you?" As in, "to love honor and obey". I usually don't use the word "obey" in a marriage ceremony, but I never admit that right away, because I am curious to know why the lady doesn't want the word included in her vow to her husband. After all, 1 Peter 3 says that Sarah was a good example for Christian wives, because she "obeyed" Abraham. Of course, the whole point has to do with a fear of her husband somehow turning into an ogre one day and start ordering her around like - well, like a private in boot camp. What always concerns me is the motivation behind such a fear and loathing of the word "obey". Why do we shrink from this command? I would suggest one of two possible things makes us uncomfortable with the directive to obey--either we are too proud, and this is a very real issue, isn't it?, or we are really afraid someone is going to take advantage of us, treat us like a slave, and somehow diminish us in the process. Friends in Christ, may I remind us this morning that pride has no place in our lives as believers, especially as it inhibits our obedience of the one we call Lord. And let us also remember that God is no ogre. He has our best in mind with everything He asks us to do. He calls us to behave according to His good pleasure (verse 13) for our own good. When we are instructed in the Word to "obey" God is not trying to diminish us but help us. A business man who was renowned for his ruthless behavior once told Mark Twain, "Before I die, I want to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I will climb Mt. Sinai and read the Ten Commandments aloud on top of that mountain." Twain, true to his gritty wit said, "I have a better idea. You could just stay in Boston and obey them." Paul wrote to encourage the Philippians to keep on being obedient to the Lord and to the word of His grace. This is the bottom line, is it not, of our Christian life: to obey the Lord. Didn't we have enough of trying to do it our own way and failing miserable before we met the Lord? I want to ask you a couple of questions, and these could be the entire message for you today. Are you listening to the Holy Spirit as He attempts to lead you into the next step of your itinerary in God's plan? Have you heard Him speak to you through the Word or in that still small voice what the next step of your growth plan is? Have you obeyed it? If you're not hearing the Holy Spirit speak His leading in your heart, you need to confess your sin and get back into fellowship with the Lord of your life. You see, there is only one reason you could be so distant from God you can't hear His Spirit speaking to you--unconfessed sin. If that's your problem, for heaven's sake, take care of it now. The scripture says the blood of Christ will cleanse you from all unrighteousness when you confess your sin. Why not just get on with it? Or do you love your sin more than you love your Lord? That is very direct, I know, but it is just that simple. The other very simple advice is that you get back into the Word of God, and dig for direction. And when you do be committed to doing what you find there. Howard Hendricks, in his delightful teaching entitled, "How To Keep the Elephants Off Your Airhose," asks which translation of the Bible you like the best. He suggests the one you read most often is the one you prefer, and if that's the case, most Christians prefer the Reversed Standard Version. That's the one where you recognize God's call for a change in your life, but you choose to do the opposite of that standard by remaining the same, ignoring God's clear challenge. James 1:22 says, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says!" Obedience is the key word of the Christian life. It is no different from what Jesus told His disciples: "If you love me, you will obey what I command." (John 14:15) Work Another very popular word, right? Years ago, the Dobie Gillis show featured a drop-out beatnik named Maynard G. Crebbs. Every time Maynard heard the word "work" he would shriek, "WORK!" Sometimes I think we Christians distort the biblical idea that we are saved by grace and not by works into meaning that we are simply not called to work. But Ephesians 2:8-9 is followed by verse 10, and our Lord is quite serious about our walk involving our work. For it is by grace you are saved through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do GOOD WORKS, which God prepared in advance for us to do. We camouflage our laziness with holy jargon like, "Well, I just don't sense the Lord leading me into that work!" Leading-schmeading! You were just asked to help out in the nursery one Sunday! Norm Cates wrote about the guy who prayed every morning, "Lord, if you want me to witness to someone today, please give me a sign to show me who it is." One day he found himself on a bus when a big, burly man got on. The bus was nearly empty, but the guy came and sat right next to the man who prayed for leading. Then the big guy burst into tears. Then he blurted out, "I'm a lost sinner and I need the Lord! Won't somebody tell me how to be saved?" Finally he turned and looked directly at the man and asked, "Can you show me how to be saved?" The believer immediately bowed his head and prayed, "Lord, is this a sign?" You know, it's just not that hard to know what the will of the Lord is for your life. Five minutes in the New Testament and you will be fully aware of something the Lord wants you to obey. (So that's why we don't spend time in the word?!) Our calling just isn't that hard to understand--obey the Lord, whatever He wants, and if you're ever unclear on what He wants, ask Him. Work out your salvation Is Paul contradicting the truth he so forcefully defends elsewhere--that we are saved by God's grace, and not by our works? Why does he say, "Work out your salvation!"? There are two things we need to understand about this command: 1. First, this is a PLURAL imperative. Paul is talking to the entire church, saying "You-all continue working out this salvation you enjoy in Jesus." He is not saying "work in order to be saved." he is writing to people who are already saved. He is saying "carry out the logical results in your life as a saved person." Suppose I find out that I owe a million dollars in back taxes. I have no money, let alone anywhere near a million dollars, and I have no means of earning that kind of money. I stand before the judge at the IRS hearing and he says, "Pay or you will spend 20 years in jail!" I explain again that I cannot pay it. The judge says "We are going to recess for 10 minutes. Mr. Bersett, you need to come up with that million dollars or you're headed to the slammer!" During the recess, the judge's comes over to me and gives me an envelope bulging with thousand dollar bills. He says, "It's a million dollars; it's for you; it's a gift." The recess ends and the judge says, "Well, Mr. Bersett, do you have the money?" "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do!" (THAT'S SALVATION--GOD PAYING OUR DEBT FOR US, SO THAT HIS JUSTICE CAN BE SATISFIED.) Then the judge says, "Alright, then, Mr. Bersett, here is the paperwork you need to file. Take this paperwork to the IRS office in St. Clair County, take your last 6 Form 1040's with you, along with your social security card, then bring back the signed release to me sometime this week. I would be a fool to not follow through with those simple instructions, wouldn't I? I was saved by the grace of the judge's son, but I was given very specific, and simple instructions about what to do to "work out that salvation." Paul said, "If you're saved, it is only natural that you should "follow through" on that salvation. Following through is obeying the Lord. In essence, Paul is saying, "You've come to Christ as Savior, now serve Him as Lord." He is both, you know. And Jesus says he is not interested in burdening you with copious commandments and difficult instructions--no, He came to save you from that. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and by burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30). His easy yoke and light burden are that we follow one simple commandment--obey Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. God is working in you If you are a believer, you possess in your life the very presence of God--His Spirit living within you. Now the Holy Spirit has many functions in the life of the Christian, but two of them are: To guide and to empower us. 1. Guide: Here is a magnificent truth for those who wonder how the Christian life works. We have a divine engineer living in our lives, and when we let him sit in the front car, He will lead us in the right path. What is that path? It is the path of God's good pleasure, and it is the path that is best for us! Jesus told the disciples I will send you the Spirit and He will lead you into all truth. Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 1:10 The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. Further, in verses 11 and 12 there he says, No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God and he says we have received the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what god has freely given us. In verse 16 Paul summarizes that we who have the Spirit of God have the mind of Christ. 1 John 2:20 says, you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. Brothers and sisters in Christ, I know that you agree with me that there is no greater privilege in all the world than this access to guidance that we have in Christ. We have access to the good pleasure of God. We are privileged to go straight to Him in the authority of Jesus' name and ask Him what His will is for us at any time. What a privilege is ours to enter into the Listening Room in the morning, read the Word of God, our instruction manual, pray to God and say, "Holy Spirit, I want to do your bidding today. Speak into my heart the perfect will of God today. Lead my every step, so that I act according to God's good purpose." 2. Power: It would be of little use to us to know the will and purpose of God if we did not have the power to do it. But we do have that power! In fact, if you are interested in acting out the good purposes of God, you can, in the power of the Holy Spirit, do immeasurably more than you could even ask, way beyond what you can imagine, by His power at work in you (Ephesians 3:20). But we have no power if we are interested in doing only our will, and not the will of the Father. And we'll have no power if we are not intent on doing the good purposes of God. And it makes no difference how weak or how strong you are in yourself. In fact, if you are not willing to be self-weak (that is, humble), you will be unable to operate in the genuine power of the Holy Spirit. That's the beauty of verse 13 - God is at work in you, both to will and to act (guide and empower) according to His good purpose. I'll close with this thought - it is our choice to either live by the wisdom and power of the Spirit of God or to not live by His wisdom and power. If we choose not to live by the Spirit, there is no victory, because we are relying on our own strength. But if we choose to live by the Spirit, we have all of heaven's power behind us. This is the key to understanding Jesus' words about taking His easy yoke and His light burden. As a Christian, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, you do not need to worry about a long list of commandments. You have only one command--be in relationship with God through Jesus, get to know Him and His will through the Holy Spirit, then just do what He says, step by step, day by day. Do you remember the old Greyhound bus commercial? They suggested you ride Greyhound AND LEAVE THE DRIVING TO US. This is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Stop driving, let Him drive--He has the guidance and the power. This is the difference between Romans 7 and Romans 8. When we do not rely on the Spirit's direction and power, we are, as Paul said, unable to do what we know is right and unable to not do what we know is wrong. In Romans 8 and Galatians 5:16 we are promised that if we live by the Spirit we will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Jesus simplified spirituality for those who accept Him: trade in all your religious anxiety about being good enough, and I will give you one easy burden. If you are a Christian, you have been given the Holy Spirit of God, and you have all the privileges of guidance and power available to you. That is, God will energize you to want His good purpose for your life and to actually act according to His good purpose. But it's still a choice. You may choose to obey the Holy Spirit, or you may choose to disobey and let all that wisdom and power lie dormant in your life. Sing "Spirit of the Living God"                 [Back to Top]