Light Bearers
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Philippians 2:12-18
Philippians 2:12-18
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
Paul is encouraging them to live faithfully, to obey the Lord even though he is not there.
As you always obeyed - they were faithful
Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel,
Work out, accomplish, bring about - not work for. There is a difference.
The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 11: Ephesians through Philemon C. Exhortation to Work out Their Salvation (2:12–18)
Acknowledging Jesus Christ as Lord obligates the believer to obey him. Hence, working out salvation does not mean “working for” salvation, but making salvation operational. Justification must be followed by the experiential aspects of sanctification, by which the new life in Christ is consciously appropriated and demonstrated.
Fear and trembling
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
We serve a Holy God and we are called to flee from sin.
Our relationship with the Lord is something we need to take seriously.
for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
God. God is working in us…think about that!
God has done this work in us.
He gives us the desire to live for Him
He gives us the strength to live for Him
He gives us the instruction to live for Him
We need to obey and let Him work in us, grabbing on to all He gives us. He doesn’t ask us to do something that we can’t do - He calls and He provides all we need to accomplish His call.
Do all things without complaining and disputing,
Do all things. All…means ALL
Complaining, grumbling, murmuring
Disputing, arguing, evil reasonings and disputes
The children of Israel complain and murmured after being delivered from Egypt
And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. Some said, “He is good”; others said, “No, on the contrary, He deceives the people.”
Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.
Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.
Why should we not grumble and complain?
that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
blameless, faultless
harmless, innocent
We walk differently. We are light and salt.
We are to live holy in a crooked and perverse generation.
This was written almost 2000 years ago. Is mankind any less crooked and perverse?
Why do we act surprised with the things that go on in this world?
We shine as lights in this world - do we?
Can you tell when a light is on? Does a light make a difference in the darkness?
Do we make a difference with how we live?
holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.
Holding fast - fix our attention on.
We need to fix our attention on the word of life -
God’s word and also Jesus
We hold fast with our attention on the things of God.
the world is crooked, hanging on to whatever it desires at the moment
Paul wants to be able to rejoice that the effort he put into the people would bring fruit. he labored in the gospel for them, he wants to see them be faithful
Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.
Paul went through so many hardships he knew his life could end at any time. He was willing to give his life for the gospel.
For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.
Have the same attitude
We are in a season currently. Paul wasn’t with the Philippians, but he expected them to live out what they knew
We are not at fellowship. We are not around other believers.
Are we being faithful?
How are we dealing with not being around the body of Christ?
This is a season where we are being called to be faithful, to be lights, to walk a straight path in a crooked world.
We need to be actively working on our walk, thinking about what are salvation means and how we should live.
We need to be joyful, not complaining
We need to be blameless, innocent, shinning the light of Christ in our lives. We should be reflecting Jesus to those around us
In this season, are you getting closer to God and growing in your walk or are you slipping into old habits, falling away a little at a time?
We need to encourage those around us to grow in Christ.
We need to encourage those who don’t know Him to look to Him and trust Him.
We can actually be joyful in this time, thanking God for giving us this time which tests are faithfulness to Him, a time that is showing us who we are. He is showing us what we are made of - we can tell by how we are acting.