Good evening. As we continue in our study through the book of Philippians we come to a call for unity and Maturity in Christ. If you will turn with me, today we will be looking at Philippians 2:12-18. Here in Philippians 2:12-18 it says, “1”
I feel that this text this morning is calling us as Christians to mature in Christ. It says to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” We are to do this because it is easy to get tripped up and not mature in Christ. I am reminded of the story about a young boy who fell out of bed one night. His mom came in to check on him and asked, “Son are you okay? What happened?” The little boy replied, “Gee I don’t know mom. I guess I just stayed to close to where I got in.”
I am afraid that too many of us are the same way when it comes to our maturity in Christ. I think that there are many of us that are staying too close to where we got in and we are not maturing in Christ. Our text this morning points out three interesting characteristics of a mature Christian that are worth studying: we have obedience, humility, and evangelism.
Let’s read verse 12 again, here in verse 12 it says, “1”
Part of being a mature Christian is obedience. It is important to note that the word obeyed in this text can have two meanings. One meaning is what seems most obvious to us as we read the passage, and that is we need to submit to Christ and His teachings. Obeying means that we do what we are told, we live how Christ wants us to live. However, there is a secondary meaning behind this word obeyed. It includes the idea of hearing divine words proclaimed.
So the basic idea of the word obeyed when you combine these two meanings is that since we have heard the word of God proclaimed, we now need to submit to that word. Until we hear it, we cannot submit to it.
I also like how Paul draws on their past success to encourage them to be obedient in the future. Paul tells them that “you have always obeyed.” Paul knew well of their past obedience. He had ministered in their midst and they had taken care of him. He had seen them take their stand for Christ. So Paul reminded them of that, and encouraged them to continue the obedience in the future.
So what does Paul mean when he commands us to “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling?”
The key that unlocks the door to this question can be found in the words “work out.” In the original, the word means, “working something to completion.” To work out our salvation with fear and trembling” is to complete that which was already begun by the person and work of Christ on the cross. Since salvation is a gift, we must be good stewards of the gift of salvation that Christ already has given us purchased by His own blood.
The Bible tells us that our righteousness is credited to us because of our faith, and if we have saving faith we will act upon that faith. James chapter 2 instructs us that faith without works is dead, right? Therefore, if we have received the gift of salvation by faith, as a natural outgrowth of that, we will act upon that faith—faith is not faith unless it is acted upon.
Imagine for a moment that a friend has given you a free gift certificate good for one parachute jump out of an airplane. You thank your friend for this gift and tell him that you have the courage to make that jump. You even go to the airport, the jumpmaster shows you the proper procedure of making a parachute jump and you strap on the parachute equipment. The jumpmaster tells you he carefully packed the chute himself. You tell him that you have the belief that the chute will open when you pull the ripcord after counting to four as you leap from the plane. But when the time comes, and the green light goes on, you remain in your seat and refuse to jump out for fear the chute won’t open. Your prior statement that you believed that the chute would open is not backed up by you jumping out of the plane.
The same is true of faith. You may say you have faith in Christ, but when it comes to obeying Him, you just can’t seem to do it. That kind of “faith” is no faith at all. Faith is belief put into action.
Taking this idea of faith a step further, when we set out to perform a certain task, we have its completion in mind. We don’t mow part of the lawn and let the other half grow into a jungle. We don’t go on vacation to Disneyland and stop in the middle of Kansas and call it a vacation. No, we must drive on until we reach our destination in California.
In Paul’s day there were mines from which the Romans mined iron ore to make swords, chariots, armor, and many other things. They would work a mine until it was all “tapped out.” That is, getting every bit possible out of the mine.
The same can be said about the nature of our Christian lives. Our purpose is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. The context of our passage specifically talks of conforming ourselves in a humble and obedient manner. Last week we looked at Philippians 2:5 and found that we are to have attitudes like that of Jesus. He never quit early, He went the whole way for us. We must live out our lives until our task that God has for us is completed.
If we are going to be people that mature in Christ, we need to be obedient to Him.
Secondly, to be a mature Christian we need to be humble. Looking back on verse 12 it starts off with the word “Therefore.” Well do you know what that therefore is there for? It may be of no shock to you, but the word therefore connects this section to the section just before it. And in that section we read about Christ’s humility.
Jesus completely humbled himself to the will of God. He did this by giving up His right as God and became one of us, and died on the cross in our place. We too, need to humble ourselves to the will of God in our lives. It is not about us anymore, it is all about Him. In verse 13 it mentions that it is God that deos these things in us. We need to humble ourselves and realize that without him we are nothing, but with Him we can do all things.
This is not an easy process, but it is a necessary one. George Bernard Shaw once wrote, “The Churches must learn humility as well as teach it.” It is a hard thing to do, but we need to learn humility, and then we need to model that to others and teach them about humility.
The concept of humility is very closely related to obedience. You see Jesus humbled Himself and became obedient even to death. If we want to be obedient people we first need to humble ourselves before God.
We need to be connected to the power source, because we do not have the power ourselves. Wouldn’t it be silly for someone to put milk, a banana, ice cubes, and sugar in an electric blender and then put the top on and shake it? Wouldn’t it be ridiculous for a tree surgeon to take his power saw and use it to cut a tree limb by sawing back and forth without turning it on? Yet we all do this at times in the Christian life, we rely on our own power when God’s unlimited power is available.
The Greek word from which we get the English word “energy” is used twice in vs. 13. Quite honestly, our own “energy” is measly and pitiful in comparison to God’s “energy.” The question then is “How do we tap into that power or that energy?”
First, By realizing that our righteousness comes from God and is invested in our lives when we surrender to Him by faith and trust in Him with our life.
Second, By having an accurate view of God. If I don’t believe God is on my side, I won’t trust Him. If I don’t trust Him, I will not be willing to sacrifice and I will also give in to the temptation to sin because I feel like I am missing out and don’t believe that God can fulfill me.
Third, Resting my hope and future entirely upon God. If my idea of God is a strict, unforgiving taskmaster, I won’t trust Him. On the other hand, If my idea of God is that He is too weak to work His sovereignty in my life, I also won’t trust Him.
Fourth, I must completely yield my life to God by faith in Him – my life is not my own. It was purchased with a price. When we receive Christ into our lives we want Him to be our Savior but we often don’t want Him also to be our Lord and Master. II Timothy 2:3-4 says, “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs--he wants to please his commanding officer.” Whether we know it or not, when we received Christ as Lord and Savior, we enlisted in God’s army. And this enlistment is not for 4 years of active duty and 4 years in the inactive reserves. It is a lifetime enlistment. And God is our commanding officer.
Fifth, We must be people committed to The Word of God and Prayer on a daily basis.
Sixth, We must continually yield ourselves to God with an attitude of obedience and humility.
And seventh, In less of an individual sense and more in a corporate sense, we need to be like a local church, we must have a commitment to unity. A baseball team signs a self-centered, high-priced, superstar that refuses to talk to the media. He may launch long home runs and rack up impressive statistics, but if a ball club is not unified in the club house, if there isn’t the right chemistry, it cannot go on to the World Series.
Moving on. Lastly to be a mature Christian we need to evangelize to others. Let’s skip down to verse 16 where it says, “As you hold out the word of life.” This is a very interesting phrase because it can be read “as you hold out the word of life” or it can be read “as you hold on to the word of life.” I feel that both of these ideas are relevant to us today.
As maturing Christians we need to hold onto the word of life. It needs to be our lifeline and the thing that we cling to no matter what the circumstances are that we find ourselves in. we also need to be willing to hold out the word of life so that other people can be exposed to it. God desires His disciples to be about the business of making more disciples. As we mature in our faith, God expects us to be sharing His word with other people.
The Vietnam conflict is a perfect example to illustrate vs. 16. Politicians and military leaders could not agree on how to win the war. Their objective was not clear. Often, the different branches of the military would not work together in harmony to accomplish a military objective. The fighting men themselves were often at odds with each other because of racial issues. Our troops didn’t have a clear idea of why they were there. At home, support for the war was divided. We think of Kent State, young men burning their draft cards, others moving to Canada. As a result, even the most hard-nosed, military men will freely admit that the war in Vietnam was fought in vain.
As Christians, our objective is clear—to live our lives in humility and obedience under the power of God “in us” to reach our dying world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are to be attractive to the lost so that they will want what we have.
Wrapping this section up, in verses 17-18 it says, “1”
In these verses, Paul is comparing his imprisonment to that of a priest in the Old Testament who pours out a drink offering. A drink offering was a portion of wine that was offered burned by fire that had an aroma pleasing to the Lord. Paul’s imprisonment was a trial by fire—there was the possibility that he would be put to death. Yet, from Paul’s viewpoint, it would be a joyful and willing sacrifice for Christ’s sake on behalf of the church. Sacrifice and service are two qualities that mark a humble, obedient, Christ-like spirit.
So a mature Christian is one whom is obedient, humble, and is about the work of evangelism. At first glance this seems like an almost impossible feat. How are we ever going to be able to mature in Christ? The answer comes in verse 13, when it says, “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” It is God at work in us that will allow us to mature in Christ.
And when we become mature in Christ we are told in verse 15, “1”
I find something interesting in this verse. Notice that it says, “in which you shine like stars in the universe.” It doesn’t say, “in which you will shine like stars in the universe.” This implies that we as Christians are already shining like stars, the question is how bright are we shining? The more we mature as Christians, the brighter we shine.
A final thing to look at is that as individuals we are a small flames, but when we come together we can become a huge bonfire. When we come together in unity as a body of believers, the world can’t help but be lit up by our shining lights.
Therefore, the Christian life is to be lived in a spirit of humility and obedience, evangelism, and unity by means of “Incarnation” where the person of Christ lives within us to give us power to live the life that God expects of us. Where our lives as believers are attractive to the lost is in a spirit of unity. He has given us all the power to accomplish our purpose here on earth. The power comes from God, but the effort comes from you and from me.
If Christ is not “in you” then it’s impossible to “work out” your salvation because you do not received the free gift of salvation. Maybe, you have Christ “in you” but you prefer to “work out” your salvation through your own strength. Either way, you have a decision to make: the former is to receive the free gift of salvation. The latter is to finally yield yourselves to God’s infinite power. Regardless of where you are at in your spiritually, God is ready to do a miraculous work in your life. Will you not invite Him to do so today?
Let’s pray
Invitation |
