God works in, we work out

God works in, we work out
Philippians 2:12-18
12 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;13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.14 Do all things without complaining and disputing,15 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,16 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.17 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.18 For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me.

Paul wrote these words to the church in Philippi while he was in prison in Rome, awaiting trial and the only way to communicate with them was through a letter. In his letter he expresses concern for them and provides sound advice for them as they live out their faith. Tonight I want to focus on these verses and draw out principles that will also aid us in our walk of faith.
Paul clearly was regarded as the spiritual authority in the church at Philippi. Spiritual authority is not based on title, position, ministry, or status one may have in the Christian community. “The basis of spiritual authority is obedience to the revealed truth and promptings of the Holy Spirit.” (Joy Dawson) Other types of authority in our lives are based simply on a title and the power that is given to that office. A policeman has delegated authority in his title because he represents the enforcement of laws. His personal life and conduct have nothing to do with the authority he has been given. If a policeman stops you for running through a stop sign, he has the ability to enforce the law regardless of any personal behavior that may reflect poorly on him. He could be carrying a bag of marijuana when he gives you the ticket but that will not hinder his ability to give you a ticket for violating the law. Spiritual authority is based on our relationship with God. Paul had the right to speak into the lives of the Philippians because he was hearing and obeying God. This is an important thing to keep in mind as we interact with other believers. If we are placed in spiritual authority we have to be seeking God and listening to Him before we give any advice to others. If we use our position, role, status etc. and do not seek God for his advice then we are most likely responding in our own abilities or knowledge and we may miss out completely what God wants us to share with this person. If we are not listening to the revealed truth of God’s Word and the promptings of the Holy Spirit and not walking in obedience to God we really have no right to exhibit spiritual authority over someone else. Paul had earned that right through his intimacy and friendship with God to be able to speak into the lives of the Philippians. The words he spoke to them were not words off the top of his head but came from spending time listening to God. His words to the church were to be heeded and I am sure that the people had great respect for the instructions he gave them.
1. The importance of encouragement.
Paul was an encourager. In all of his letters he always brought out the positive things he saw in the people He encouraged them by acknowledging their obedience to the Lord. They had proven themselves to be obedient while he was with them and now in his absence he wanted them to continue even more to walk in obedience. One of the greatest ways we can encourage others is by complimenting them on their obedience to the Lord. Parents know that children need positive reinforcement to encourage the behavior that is what they want. Parents want their children to do what is right in every situation they encounter whether they are with them or not. Every parent or every person who has responsibility for the well being of other people is concerned about what will happen when they are absent. Think back on the times when your parents left you with a baby sitter or a family member for a time and remember the instruction that were given by them before they left. They wanted to make sure that you behaved yourself properly and did not do anything that would bring a bad report. Some of you have been or are parents and you can relate to giving last minute advice to your children when you left them with someone. Sometimes we fear they will say or do something that will embarrass us or chase the baby sitter away so that they will never return again.
When I grew up there was a TV program called House Party with Art Linkletter. One of the best parts of the show was at the end when he conducted interviews with children. I am sure every parent whose child was going to be interviewed had some level of concern regarding what their child would say. In one interview Art asked a young boy what story in the Bible was his favorite. He replie, "Adam and Eve". Art asked him to explain what happened to them and the boy recounted how Adam and Eve ate the apple, got sick and threw up. Art asked him how God punished them for eating the apple. The boy reply, "He made Adam write the Bible and he made Eve a housewife."
As a spiritual parent Paul was concerned for his children in Philippi. He wanted them to continue walking in obedience to the truth that had been imparted to them.
Another way that Paul encouraged them was in how he addressed them. He called them “Beloved” which is a very tender term of endearment. Paul truly cared for the spiritual condition and growth of the church. He gave himself to that end and poured himself into the church. He writes these instructions out of a heart of love for the people and that has to be our driving force in dealing with people. We have to respond in love which always desires the highest good for them and not for us. How often we want people to do things because it makes it easier on us rather than makes them more Christ like. How often we have ulterior motives that really are selfish yet we posit them as for “their good.” How often we want to “control” other people and force them to be like us. When we know we are loved by the person speaking to us and that they have no personal agenda in what they want to say to us then it is much easier to receive it and respond in obedience.
Paul also encouraged them by acknowledging that God was at work in them. It is God who begins the work of salvation, it is God who gives us the ability to live out our salvation and it is God who will receive us into eternity. In spite of what they may not have been doing correctly, Paul was able to see that God was a work in them. As a leader this is critical that you are able to see change in the lives of others and be able to encourage them by verbalizing this to them. Sometimes we may wonder if God really is a work in our lives because we seem to continue struggling with the same issues and we feel discouraged with our progress of spiritual development. It is encouraging when someone who is in spiritual authority over you confirms that God is committed to our growth and that they can truthfully say that they see God at work in you. They are seeing changes in character, attitude, work ethic, fruit of the Spirit etc. Paul encouraged the believers regarding their obedience which is a foundational block in our spiritual growth. We need to call out the good things we see that God is doing in each other. As a teacher I remember hearing speakers talk about catching the children doing something good and bringing it to their attention as well as the attention of their classmates. It is always easier to focus and what is not right or what is not being done well and we can quickly develop a negative mind set which will quickly be detected by the other person. We all need constructive criticism but it has to be mixed with encouragement as well. Paul demonstrated both here.
2. The importance of purpose.
God was at work in each person to both will and to work for his good pleasure. We must always remember that our lives are not our own. God has saved us for a purpose and we serve at and for His pleasure.
When a President appoints someone to his staff, this person serves at the pleasure of the President. They are placed in their position to serve his or her needs and desires and they can be asked to leave if they are not meeting these expectations. In our relationship with God we serve at his pleasure. We are not independent agents or contractors who can do our own thing in the way we desire. We are here to serve at the pleasure of God and what a privilege it is for us to be able to say that we have been asked to serve the Living God, who is all wise, all knowing, and sovereign over all the universe. We serve Him according to His will for our lives. He is at work in us to conform us to His will which is pleasing to him. God delights in our obedience to him because that is the response he is seeking from us. He knows what is best and asks us to trust Him even when we do not understand what is happening or why. We know he is love and that he is always working things for his good pleasure. His pleasure is not sadistic or cruel, it is always good. Our responsibility is to always do those things that are pleasing to God and we can know those things through the revealed truth God has given to us. Our focus must always be on God and not ourselves and what we want.
Are you serving God to bring him pleasure or are you serving God to bring yourself pleasure? Is your will under the direction of God’s will and purposes for your life? Why are you doing what you are doing? This is one of the most important questions we have to ask of ourselves. I am here because it is God’s will or am I here because it is my will? Did I decide to be here or did I come in obedience to what God revealed to me to be his will?
3. The importance of reverence
Paul exhorts the church in light of the fact that God is at work in them to will and do of his pleasure that they need to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. This is a foreign idea to some people because they have an image of God that he is a god of love that would never want to instill fear or cause anyone to tremble. Our relationship with God has to have both love and fear. John Bevere in the video series, “Driven by Eternity” brought out an important concept regarding love and fear. He said if we only see God as a god of love we can fall into the error of lawlessness. We will think we can do anything because God is love and he will overlook what we are doing. If we focus on fear it can lead to legalism. We can fall into the error of setting up rules for everything because we do not want to offend God through disobedience. We need both a love for God and a fear of God to have a balanced walk.
To work out our salvation with fear and trembling means that we do not take lightly what God has done to save our souls. When we realize what God has saved us from and what God is saving us to we will be sober minded and ready to do whatever it takes to see His salvation worked out in our lives. The fear and trembling Paul speaks about “…comes from a sense of our own creatureliness, our own weakness, our own inadequacy, our own powerlessness to deal with life and temptation…It is a fear and trembling that drives us to seek God and brings us ever closer to God, in the certainty that without His help we cannot effectively faced life at all..” (William Barclay) Fear and reverence toward God also comes when we totally desire and dedicate our lives to carry out his will and we do not want to do anything to disappoint Him. We desire above all things to be obedient to him and the thought of walking away from him should bring fear and trembling not because we are going to be punished by him but because we will not be bringing him the pleasure that he deserves. I believe Paul is admonishing the church to never forget that our lives are to be completely dedicated to God and that we need to be working out with great reverence toward God the process of salvation.
4. The Importance of Unity
Paul continues his discourse by giving practical examples of ways that we can work out our salvation, to live it out in view of the world. One of the problems that was evident in the church was a lack of unity which was seen in the disputes and grumblings of the people. When there is a lack of unity there will always be disputes and people who will murmur and complain. The Greek word Paul uses for murmuring is “goggusmos” which is pronounced “Gongusomos”. When you say the word you are making the same sounds that a person who is murmuring makes. Disputes and grumbling usually are the result of someone not getting his or her way. . The example of Christ set forth in the verses previous to this give us the solution to the problem of disputes and grumbling. Christ humbled himself and took on the form of a servant to minister to us. If we had a humble attitude and a willingness to serve others there would be less opportunity to bring contention and disputes in the church. Unity is achieved when we have corporate humility. Disputes and grumblings are signs that there is a lack of unity and a lack of corporate humility. When churches are known for disputes and unrest it is a horrible witness to the community.
5. The Importance of Purity
When we are walking in purity we are blameless and harmless and without rebuke. We should be blameless toward the world. They should not be able to find fault in what we do. The world may not understand why we do what we do but they should not be able to say that we are doing anything in violation of what we believe and teach.
We also demonstrate purity by being harmless. This word literally means “unmixed, unadulterated”. It is used of wine or milk that is not mixed with water or metal that does not have any alloy in it. We are not a mixture of good and evil motives in our actions. There is a genuiness and sincerity in all that we do.
The final aspect of purity is that we are without rebuke.
Without rebuke—amoµmeµta. Momus was a carping deity among the Greeks, mentioned by Hesiod and Lucian, who did nothing himself, and found fault with every body and every thing. From him all carpers at other men, and rigid censurers of their works, were called Momi. The sense of the expression is, "Walk so circumspectly that Momus himself may have no occasion to cavil at you, that the severest censurer may find no fault with you.’[1]
When we walk in purity we will be a light in a dark perverse world. The picture is that of a procession at night, in a crooked and distorted age, in which torchbearers are going and holding high the blazing torches, so that those following can see how to walk in this sin-darkened world.[2]
Our lives must reflect the light of God and we must also send forth this light, his Word into the world by sharing the gospel message with those walking in darkness. Paul poured out his life to this end. He labored with great intensity to fulfill his calling to share the gospel with the lost and he wanted the church in Philippi to do the same. He was not concerned with making his life comfortable or just looking out for himself.
James D. Berkley writes in a book called “Leadership Meditations” the following.
“We all like things our way, to our convenience and our taste. How easy it is to make church nice and comfortable-for us. Yet the church isn’t meant to be comfortable. No pioneering, radical, countercultural organization has the leisure of being comfortable. A country club can be comfortable. A golfing foursome can be comfortable. A family gather can be comfortable. But a church-that is culture-shaking, eternity-changing band Jesus commissioned to turn the world upside down-doesn’t have the charter to be comfortable. It’s commissioned as an activist for the Kingdom of God! My pleasure, my ease, my way-such things are really not important. God’s glory, God’s tasks, others’ benefit-those are the reasons for the church’s existence…The church is not my personal vending machine…Instead it is a lifesaving station for reaching out to those in peril needing to be made safe.”
We must always remember that we are the light and we must be the light. We represent Christ wherever we go and we must make it our ambition to share the gospel message of love with everyone we can. The world is groping in darkness and Christ is their only hope.
Paul closes by expressing his heart to them that he did not want to be disappointed on the day of Christ’s return when all of our works will be judged for their quality. Paul did not want to look back at all of the hard labor he put into the ministry God had called him to and see that those he labored for had not worked out their salvation and that all of his labor with them was for nothing. Paul knew that he was responsible to pour himself out as a drink offering, to give of himself to the church regardless of the final outcome. He was hoping and praying for the best but the reality is that sometimes people whom we have invested our lives walk away from the faith. Paul lived his life in obedience to what God had asked of him and he left the results up to the Lord.
God is working until he completes his work in us and we are responsible to work out our salvation. As we work out our salvation individually and corporately we will accomplish it if we put into practice:
1. The importance of encouragement
2. The importance of purpose
3. The importance of reverence
4. The importance of unity
5. The importance of purity

You can listen to part of this message by clicking on the following link:
http://www.supload.com/sound_confirm.php?get=142851063.wma

[1]Henry, Matthew, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Bible, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers) 1997.
[2]Jerry Falwell, executive editor; Edward E. Hinson and Michael Kroll Woodrow, general editors, KJV Bible commentary [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1994.