Series Overview
Notes
Transcript
The World is Changing
The World is Changing
It’s not hard to see that the world we live in is changing, and it’s clearly not for the best. Some theologians have described it as a “post-Christian” culture. This basically means that the old norms, the old values and ideals once held as true and dear - even vital to society are no longer accepted by the majority. For example, people as a majority once believed in God, that the Bible was the Word of God, and that Jesus was the Son of God; but that no longer is the case. Just yesterday we were watching the remake of Anne of Green Gables, and even this sweet innocent classic was ruined by people trying to make some kind of social statement about homosexuality. Now, don’t get me wrong. If people who were practicing homosexuals wanted to join our church, I would have no problem accepting them without judgment, but would expect that as they grew in their relationship with Christ, that they would be transformed by the Word of God, and we would never condone their lifestyle, but love them and be here for them. That said, however, the majority no longer accepts certain basic principles of morality that both the Old and New Testaments teach. In fact, we who hold these truths and principles are often ridiculed, and derided as being hateful or close-minded.
This post Christian culture is true both the secular and spiritual spheres of the modern world. In the secular world we see divorce, living together homosexuality and other “alternative lifestyles” commonly accepted as normal or desirable. Spiritually, we see churches abdicating the truth and seeking to be culturally relevant by preaching a Gospel of love and acceptance, yet forgetting the vast admonitions of scripture to obey the Word of God and reject sin. Instead they preach a Gospel that excuses everything and excludes the very foundational concept of the need for a redeemer, for if all behavior is permissible, what did Jesus die for?
So how are Christians to react to this change in our society? What can we do to steer the ship in a new direction? Should we form “political action committees”? Should we resort to boycotts and picketing or maybe violence and riots are the way to go? How can we protect ourselves from this onslaught? Should we change our views to conform to society and “fit-in” or perhaps self-isolation is in order? We could form communes and live apart from the rest of the World?
Or we could instead look to Scripture to provide the best answer. After all, the first-century Christians lived in a world very similar to the one in which we live. So similar that it could be called a “pre-Christian” culture. As I began to unpack my key passage today, I realized that to give it justice, there was no way I could do it all in one sermon, so I want us to spend the next few weeks looking at Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Specifically I want to look at:
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.
Do all things without complaining and disputing, 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, 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.
This first week, we will just touch upon this as a whole. In the weeks that follow, we’ll delve more deeply into Paul’s letter point by point. So this week we’ll go over all the points in this passage, then we will tackle them one at a time.
If we want to become light bearers in a world of darkness, we must do so by…
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;
The word fear in connection with God is not popular with the love and acceptance crowd. Maybe it’s a pendulum swing away from the hellfire and brimstone teaching of the past, but I think that it is that we’ve gone to the extreme of diluting the concept of the fear of the Lord by our definitions. I mean, to hear some pastors talk about it, there is no room for any amount of “trembling” in their definition of fear. But Jesus was clear about the fear of the Lord.
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
We will be looking at fear and our need to have the “proper fear and trembling”, because without it, we probably will not be very motivated to do the “working out our own salvation” part of that passage. Could this be the reason that there is so much apathy and fruitlessness in the Church today?
Or perhaps we aren’t Light Bearers because we’ve failed to realize that:
for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
To properly succeed as “Light Bearers” we must allow God to do HIS work, something that is beyond our ability to comprehend.
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Make no mistake Child of God, He is there working for you.
being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
And look at how He’s doing it. He is both willing to help us in our motivation and actually able to complete it within us! The key for us is to avoid quenching the Spirit of God and thereby prevent God from using us for anything. But lest I get too far into it, we will have to look at this specifically in the future.
What else can we do to become “Light Bearers”? Well how about we learn to have the right attitude when we are going about our tasks.
Do all things without complaining and disputing,
We need to have a positive attitude when we are servants of the Most High and we can’t use the fact that we live in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation as an excuse for having a bad attitude - even though that can certainly get us down. But we must not allow ourselves to become complainers because that will cause us to become ineffective. Think of how complaining worked out for Israel.
nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
Instead, we need to focus on having unity in the church, for how can we convince the world of anything if we are always disputing with one another. We need to grow up in order to represent Jesus faithfully.
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?
If we are going to influence the world the way we should, we cannot be devouring ourselves through such destructive forces as murmuring and disputing amongst ourselves. But that’s just the beginning. The world should see us a certain way.
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,
God requires that we be blameless! That’s crazy to think because we are certainly not perfect people, but much in the same way church leaders and elders are to be blameless, Paul is simply saying that God’s people should be above reproach. We may be sinners, but if we are quick to confess our sins and make amends for our mistakes, we can live life in such a way that there is no un-confessed sin within us that people can use to bring an accusation against us.
But being without fault also requires that we be harmless. Though we oppose sin in all forms, they should never fear that they will be harmed by us physically or emotionally, through judgment and shaming.
And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.
Sadly too many Christians either turn the blind eye to sin, or worse yet go Old Testament God of wrath and give the impression that they would go so far as to do bodily harm.
Jesus said that we are to be wise and harmless at the same time.
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.
And finally if we are to really to be Light Bearers in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation we must be....
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.
Remember, the Word of God is the “sword of the Spirit”! It is the only offensive weapon that God has given us. The rest of the Armor is defensive.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
It is the instrument that produces the conviction that leads to repentance and transforms people out of darkness and into light.
No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
So it really is the Word of Life! For that reason, we must cling to it as though our lives depended on it, because it does. Some other translations don’t talk about holding fast, rather holding forth. That actually works as well. We should be holding fast the word in our study and application of Scripture, and holding forth the word as we proclaim it to those that need to hear the transforming Word of God. We will take a look at Ezra and how he did it.
For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.
As we go through these verse, and we take a close look at these points one at a time, I believe that we’ll learn how to become “Light Bearers”. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it. Are you ready to start...
Working out your own salvation
with fear and trembling
by letting God work in you
Doing things without murmuring or disputing
as Children of God without fault
Holding Fast (or forth) the Word of Life?
We are not about changing the law or the Supreme Court or even getting the right people elected, our ultimate goal should be to change the hearts of men and women. To turn them toward the ways of God and this series will teach us how to go about doing that.
This will help us to...
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.
For now, I want you to just think about how YOU can shine in this present darkness. Ask God to reveal to you your role in such a time as this.
Let’s pray.