Getting Real with Percentages

Good morning, welcome to our online service, I am super excited about today’s message and believe that this is one of those sermons that really going to challenge us and give us practical tools to help us with deal with some of the real challenges we are facing..

Me?

We are living in unprecedented times with Covid 19 and the ways we look at the world is different from what it was just three months ago. As we enter into this phase two of moving from sheltering in place to reopening plan…

We are to to continue with social distancing and take the necessary safety precautions . There are strong opinions out there…about what should be happening right now…

What is certain is that there are going to be more challenges in the weeks and months ahead of us and and more patience is going to be required… of us…

Paul is going to warn us in our text today to be careful of developing a critical Spirit...

Have you ever caught yourself being critical of others...

The other day, I was driving in Chico and I saw this guy driving in his car by himself and he had his mask on..... and I had this thought... Isn't that taking it too far? Isn’t that too much.. Then, I had one of those moments where you just stop and check… something you thought…

The truth is I don’t really know what is going on in his life… He may have underlying health issues… or parents who are vulnerable… What’s wrong driving in your car with a mask on?

It easy to be an armchair umpires …sit back and make judgements and be critical of others.

When Paul wrote this letter to the Philippines there were quite a few things going on around Him. There were a group of religious people wanting to see him harmed. There were Judiazers who were trying to turn the church back to the law and circumsision.... There are also disagreements going on - in Chapter four we told of two influential woman Eudioa and Syntyche who were partners together in ministry, but something happened and they had a falling out..

Paul in Ephesians 4 Paul talks about maintaining the Unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.. through humility, gentleness, patience…bearing with one another in love.

This happens when We walk Worthily of the Calling which we have been called..

Paul in His Epistles never starts with others… He always with himself and his own responses.. Instead of looking outwards Paul says start with an internal audit… Pauls says work it out

Opening: What are you like in the morning? are you cheerful and energetic or grouchy until the coffee takes effect?

Philippians 2:12–13 ESV

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but 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 work for his good pleasure.

Paul, starts with the word Therefore… and it is signifiant because Paul is wanting us the readers to that he hasn’t changed his the subject… Paul is still dealing with that profound poem of Jesus humility… from verses 8-12.. That Jesus being God in the very form of God.. word, took on the form of a servant and became man and was obedient to the point of death even death on the cross..

As Hugh Kent says in his commentary said that..

‘The downward compression of Christ’s self-humiliation followed by the explosive upward vault of his super-exaltation demands our awed contemplation”

Here is the think Christ incarnation, death, resurrection and exaltation are not to be abstract concepts that don’t have any bearing on life and the nitty gritty of problems of every day life... Rather… this vision of Christ leads to real action…

Paul says in light of Christ’s humility and exaltation…double up on their efforts... Be more energetic in their faith... Honoring God...by Working out your salvation with fear and trembling... allow God's energy that is given through the Holy Spirit continue to work... let God work out his good pleasure in your life..

In light of Phil 2:1-4 what does it mean to work out your (plural) salvation? What part is up to God? What part is up to you?

The Philippians had been doing amazingly well… they had run the race well --- but Paul says don’t stop now keep on persevering… Don’t quit....continue to run even better all the way to the finish line…

How?

By working out your Salvation… This verse is easy to misinterpret…Paul is not promoting a works righteousness gospel… where we are justified or saved by works.. doesn’t mean to be saved, to go to heaven...

It doesn’t say, “Work for your salvation.” It says, “Work it out.”

What it means is to take. Take the power that has come into your life and work it through your life.

It’s a little bit like making cookies or a cake or something like that. You’re whipping the batter up. Then you have to throw in a chunk of chocolate, or you have to throw in a chunk of butter or something. Then what you have to do is you have to work it out or work it in, work it through everything else.

You are already marked by your courageous commitment to Christ… but don’t stop there… continue to live out that meaning of that commitment every day of your life..

Most of us can do the hard thing for on day…Most of us can stick to a diet or even go to the gym for a day a week… maybe even a month… Living this life in the Spirit --- needs to be a daily commitment…

How does this get done? Paul cuts to the Chase… You have to Get real with how you live your life… Paul challenges them not with their ideals but what is actual…

Last week we looked at the power of our habits, how does Paul’s encouragement to not give up link with his earlier admonition to develop healthy habits?

Dealing with Real number… or what we calling Real percentages..

We?

Not so long ago apple added to their phones the ability to track exactly how much time you spend time on your device… .. for example it will tell how many hours and what percentage of the time you spent on entertainment apps and productivity apps..... What is shocking is that we have a way of underestimating… how much time we spend doing certain talks.. .. you might thing your spent 5-10 minutes -looking at Facebook… where in realty it could be an hour or longer.. It think it is a great idea to make us aware how much time we spend on our phones… but at the same time you have the option to turn off those percentages… I think we do that sometimes with our lives… We don’t like real numbers…

In our text this morning we are going to see that Paul wants the church to examine their lives and to consider how they live…

T/s Paul wants them to take a real look at the percentages of time.. ....

1. Grumbling and Complaining.

An elderly couple lived together in a nursing home. Though they had been married for sixty years, their relationship was strained with constant arguments, disagreements, and shouting contests. The fights didn’t stop even in the nursing home; the couple argued and squabbled from the time they got up in the morning until they fell in bed at night.

The nursing home supervisor eventually threatened to throw them out if they didn’t change their ways. Even then the couple couldn’t agree on what to do.

Finally, the wife said to her husband, “I’ll tell you what, Joe; let’s pray that one of us dies. After the funeral is over, I’ll go live with my sister.”

Paul wants the church to consider how much time they spend grumbling a complaining…

Philippians 2:14–15 ESV

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

How can you pay more attention to your thoughts so we can do everything for the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31)

Paul says, Do all things without grumbling and complaining…

Notice that it doesn’t say do some things without grumbling and complaining.

Some things are easier to do without complaint than others. Paul is not selective here in his command. He does not allow us to pick and chose what we’ll do with a happy heart.

The phrase do all things — is a comprehensive instruction imperative… It is like saying the way you should always approach live.. Every action in your life should be transformed by your salvation.. Paul uses similar phrase in

1 Cor 10:31

Where he says, So whether you eat or drink or what ever you do, do everything for the Glory of God..

Here, Paul says everything you do should be without grumbling and complaining..

The word, “without” speaks of being apart or distancing from that behavior..…

Paul uses the word murmuring the same word used of Israels complaining in the wilderness (cf. Exodus 16:12). God delivered Israel from harsh bondage and then provided for them food in the wilderness.. Grumbling and complaining was a serious thing.. that resulted in a whole generation not entering into Canaan the promised land

Pauls words are intentionally vivid.

Paul sees the New Testament church as the people of the new exodus who have been delivered from a spiritual Egypt by the blood of Christ, the Passover Lamb, and who are now on their way home to the ultimate promised land. And he wants us to get it right.

Without Blemish. another marker of distance... free from blemish... ‘

The idea of being stained... is the result of such behavior that leaves the marks of shame and guilt.

Most of us know what it is like to spill something on a favorite ... There are things in our lives that will stain and leave a blemishes…Pau

The things that I'm grumbling about the things that are in my heart that are unhealthy and divisive.. are there any stains...

The reason we should distance ourselves grumbling and disputes... is that we might blameless (free of guilt and guiltless).

If they get it right (by putting away their “grumbling” and “questioning”), they will become examples to the pagan culture of Philippi, and even to the world.

If all that people know about a church is that its members constantly argue, complain, and gossip, they get a bad impression of Christ and the gospel…

For example if ..I recommended a great restaurant …one that I’ve been eating at for fifteen years and that I’ll eat there till I die, and a few days later I’m diagnosed with a terminal illness due to food poisoning, you’re going to question the advisability of eating at such a place.

Nobody would want to visit that restaurant… because it’s not good for your health and life sustaining…it literally can harm you… There are churches that can become toxic...

Paul wants us to be aware of our words and actions…

This does not mean sinless perfection; instead, the church was to be beyond the criticism of the unbelieving world. Their lives also ought to be innocent. There ought to be nothing within the church that would weaken its strength or contaminate the truth

What is interesting is that the Purpose is that we might shine as lights... before a world that is described as crooked and perverse generation..

There are things that are going on in our culture that are perverse that have been normalized … and to be honest sometimes it would be easier to retreat… retreat and go into spiritual isolation -

Paul wants us to be in the middle of things… he Has called us to be lights in the middle of darkness.

We need to live blameless and innocent toward God, and also in their kind conduct with one another as children of God

Paul says when we live like this our lives will shine like stars in the darkness…

Phil 2:15 What makes God’s people shine like stars?

It is amazing how far we can see stars and planets with the naked eye…a couple of weeks ago we could see Saturn and Mars… Saturn is about 888 million miles away and Mars is about 104 million miles.

Paul tells us that this community of Philippi will shine well beyond the boarders of their city and into the world.

T/S What Percentage of our time do we spend .

1. Grumbling and Complaining.

2. Holding on to the Word of God?

What does it mean for God’s word to fill our lives? Colossians 3:16

The reason Paul get’s real with this church is because he has nothing but the best intentions for this Church..

This was the church Paul planted during his second missionary journey .... these were some of his favorite people… they were partners in the gospel.... They supported Paul on several occasions and had given their pastor Epharoditus to come and encourage Paul… So...

Paul, wants the best for them…and he is challenging the church. .. this is what great leaders do…they don’t settle for the status qou....Dr. Henry Cloud said.

“Great leaders cultivate an environment where instead of people getting injured, discouraged, and burned out, they are equipped to become what they never thought they could be and achieve things they never thought they could achieve. Great leaders grow not just results, but people too..”

When you think about it… that if anything is going to produce life… it has to be plugged into something… something has to generate power that produces light… Paul tells us that Power is the Word of life..

Philippians 2:16 ESV

holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

Phil 2:16 What simple daily disciplines may you need to establish to become habits so you can hold fast to God’s word?

Paul makes a contrast here.,.

Instead of being preoccupied with complaining, the church should be occupied with proclaiming the word of life. The word holding fast can mean both hold out and holding onto...

Hold onto the word of life.. The word of God is life… because The word is about the life of Christ and generates life in all who hear and believe in Christ...

Complaining turns off the light of the church in the world; proclaiming the word of life shines the light of the life of Christ into the darkness of the world.

John tells us in his gospel —That in the beginning was the Word and the word was with God and the word was God… All things that were made were made through him and nothing in the world is made with out him…

John 1:4–5 ESV

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John uses that Greek philosophical word... logos… the reason.. or the Principle thing… the meaning of all life… John says that Jesus was the principle.... the logos who was with God from the beginning and he is the creator of all life…not only is He creator but also sustainer of all things but in Him is the life and the light of all man… the word life is the same word that Paul uses when he says --- Hold onto the world of life… it is the word Zoe. Which literally means the life source… it is the inherence quality of producing and maintaining…

Paul says Hold onto the Word...

What does it mean to Hold fast-- it means to stick to--- or to glue yourself to the Word of Life.. The Gospel is the WORD of LIFE... idea is holding out the word of God..

The Word of God is unique: it is inspired, authoritative, and infallible. If we do not appreciate the Word, then God’s power cannot energize our lives.

But we must also appropriate the Word—“receive it.” This means much more than listening to it, or even reading and studying it. To “receive” God’s Word means to welcome it and make it a part of our inner being. God’s truth is to the spiritual man what food is to the physical man.

He urges the church to demonstrate their firm grasp of the message about Christ by the way they live out the life of Christ in their relationships with one another

Since the word of life is the source of life for the church, the existence of the church depends upon a firm grasp of the word of life.

If the word of life is lost, the church will be like a black hole rather than a shining star in the world.

That is why Paul exhorts and urges the church to remain clean and innocent and holding tightly to the truth as they reached out to a depraved world...

Paul’s boasting was not prideful, as if he had built the church with his own hands.

Paul’s theme of boasting turns the whole concept of human boasting upside down. Human boasting takes pride in human power and human accomplishments. But Paul’s boasting gives all the glory to God for God’s demonstration of grace and power through human weakness and tribulation...

The Church would go through difficulty and trials - weakness and still… remain blameless and joyful.

Paul is challenging us to get real with the percentages in our lives.

T/S What Percentage of time do we spend our Energy on...

T/1. Grumbling and Complaining?

2. Holding on to the Word of God?

3. Pouring our lives into Others?

The author Jerry Bridges (no relation to me) Wrote about The late Dawson Trotman, founder of The Navigators, was visiting Taiwan on one of his overseas trips.

During the visit he hiked with a Taiwanese pastor back into one of the mountain villages to meet with some of the national Christians. The roads and trails were wet, and their shoes became very muddy. Later, someone asked this Taiwanese pastor what he remembered most about Dawson Trotman. Without hesitation the man replied, "He cleaned my shoes."

What an amazing humble servant… Paul describes his ministry as being poured out..

Philippians 2:17–18 ESV

Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

Paul uses a rather strange metaphor to describe his ministry among the churches.. The Philippian church was predominantly a greek Church… and had little Jewish background....So it seems that Paul uses this Sacrificial metaphor that probably they would have been familiar with and that was the practice of referring pouring out wine out to pagan deities prior to important public events.

Paul regarded his life as as a willing offering ...

Paul pours his life out like a liquid offering... costly... once it's spent it's gone.. the glass is empty... When you think about it we all pour our lives out for something...

we need to be careful what we give our lives too.. because.. Paul is conscious of he fact that we can give ourselves to something that has no lasting value…

But Paul believes that his offering is going to produce faith and ultimately joy on the day of the Lord’s appearing… Sometimes we might wonder is it worth it… When you think about all the energy and investment that go into ministry…

The reason that the church is continued for the past 2000 years is because there have been men and woman who have poured out before us… We can think of examples..

Paul gives the church three examples ...Paul first mentioned himself as one who was willing to sacrifice himself for the faith of the Philippians just as Christ sacrificed Himself for them. Timothy was one likeminded with Paul; he would look on the needs of the Philippians rather than upon his own desires. Epaphroditus was another who did not regard his own life, but rather expended himself to meet the needs of Paul.

Some times we just need to see joy modeled...

You?

Paul confronts us with percentages… where are exerting our energy in life… How much time do we spend worrying about other people… How much time do you spend in the word of life… Who are you pouring into...’

Here is the thing percentages are measurable.. You can literary divide up your week… and put down Entertainment, Work, family, health, Cooking — Add in there another section calling Spiritual formation...

--- How much time do you spend — grumbling and complaining… How much time do you spend holding onto the words of life… How much time do you spend… Pouring your life in to things that matter...

Take time to deal with the real percentages… Then ask God to help you… .

we? cast the vision

The church in Philippi was not a large mega church… the church in Philippi was a small congregation.. The church at Philippi was not a perfect church.... But they were a church who were persevering... towards wholeness...

What would happen if we as church took on the attitude of Christ - If instead of insisting on our own way… that we walked in humility and that willingly and selflessly chose to serve one another...

Phil 2:19-30 How do Timothy or Epaphroditus deal with the problems Paul has mentioned in the church? How do they set an example for us?

What happened if we distanced ourselves from grumbling and complaining.... and instead began to invest in one another…

When you drive outside of the city limits you see the light reflected in the Sky… The City literally lights up the sky...

Paul tells us if we deal with real persentages our lives will shine like stars --- we will illuminate darkness…

If you are feeling like maybe it’s too late.

The good news is that we don’t have to heap condemnation on each other… We don’t have to fret about missed opportunities… God’s grace friends is sufficient for us...

John Newton — the famous pastor and song writer wrote..

“I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am”

― John Newton

How encouraging is that… lets Pray!

What is the behavior you wish you could effortlessly display in these type of situations?

Closing Benediction.

Richard Halverson, former pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Maryland and also the former chaplain of the United States Senate used the following benediction at the end of each service/message for many years in his ministry. It reflects his deep conviction that his church was not only where the congregation met on Sundays, but at each place where they lived and worked through the week.

A Benediction Wherever you go, God is sending you. Wherever you are, God has put you there. God has a purpose in your being right where you are. Christ, who indwells you by the power of his Spirit, wants to do something in and through you. Believe this and go in his grace, his love, his power. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen