Please take your Bibles and open them up to the book of Philippians this morning.
The book of Philippians. We're continuing on in our series through Philippians.
We've made our way about halfway through chapter 2, and our passage this morning is Philippians 2, verses 12-18.
And when you've found it, let's stand in honor of the reading of God's Word this morning.
Philippians 2, verses 12-18.
Philippians 3, verses 12-18.
Philippians 3, verses 12-22.
Philippians 3, verses 12-18.
Philippians 3, verses 12-21.
Philippians 4, verses 12-18.
Philippians 4, verse 13-18.
Philippians 3, verses 14-18.
Philippians 4, verse 13-28.
Philippians 3, verse 13-86.
open our eyes to behold wondrous things out of your word.
Lord, would you transform us in this moment as we meet with you.
Now we pray in Christ's name. Amen.
You may be seated.
This morning I want to take you all the way back to the early church father, St. Augustine.
St. Augustine. Many of you probably are familiar with that name,
but you might not know that St. Augustine battled with all sorts of sin in the flesh.
He wrestled especially with sexual sin,
but he would tell you he wrestled also with pride and with greed and with gluttony.
He wrote about his struggle in his book called Confessions.
It's an honest portrayal of his battle with sin and then his eventual conversion to Christ.
And here's what he said. He said, I was bound down by this disease of the flesh.
Its deadly pleasures were a chain that I dragged along with me, yet I was afraid to be freed from it.
In fact, he said that in his youth he used to pray,
give me chastity and give me continency, only not yet.
In other words, I want to be holy, I think.
I want to be like you, I think.
I want to follow you, I think.
I want to obey you, I think, but not yet.
Not until I'm done chasing after my sin.
Christ, I want to be satisfied in Christ after I'm done being satisfied with the sins of my flesh.
And maybe you've prayed something like that,
or even if you haven't prayed that, maybe you've felt something like that.
I want to get serious about the Lord at some point, but maybe not quite yet.
Well, if that's you, you should know, not yet will never come.
And the call of our passage this morning is a call from the Apostle Paul
to follow Christ with all of your heart,
all of your soul, all of your mind, all of your strength.
This is a call to total obedience to Christ right now.
So our passage this morning is, we see the call,
and then Paul makes a case.
The call to pursue total obedience,
and then the case for why and how that's even possible for sinners like us
to meet such a high calling.
So first, let's see the call here.
Look with me to verse 12.
Paul says,
We saw last week, over the past several weeks really,
this call for Christians.
We are called to lay down our lives
in radical, selfless, humble, sacrificial love for others.
You remember this from last week.
Out of the example and the power of Christ Jesus for us,
we are called to go and die for the good of others.
Christ Jesus has humbled himself.
He who is God has set aside this right,
this divine right to become a servant of sinners.
And now Paul says,
You likewise, if you are in Christ,
you go and serve others as well.
So now in our passage today,
he says,
In light of this,
in light of this example,
and in light of the power of Christ's sacrifice,
therefore,
you go,
work out your own salvation.
Now what in the world does this mean?
I'll tell you what it doesn't mean.
It does not mean work for your salvation.
Work to achieve your salvation.
Our salvation is based on the finished work of Christ Jesus alone.
Not a single one of us can work for our salvation.
That's not what it means.
Others have taken this to mean,
well,
work out whether you are saved or not.
Find some evidence for your salvation.
Determine whether or not you are actually a Christian.
And I don't think that that's exactly what he means either.
Although that application is here.
Here's what I think he means.
I think that in light of what he's calling them to do here
in pursuing total obedience,
he's calling them and us to work out your salvation,
meaning to live it out.
To work it out in your life.
Show the outworking of what Christ has done in your life.
Faith is invisible,
but obedience is not.
Faith is internal.
It's invisible,
but our obedience,
our following Christ,
the fruit of our salvation,
is visible.
And so he says,
Christian,
if you're in Christ,
live it out.
Work it out.
Show the outwork.
Let God's grace play out in your life.
Pursue full obedience.
Genuine faith,
it has to be lived.
It's got to be worked out in your life.
A few places,
a few references here.
James,
we know,
tells us,
faith without works is what?
It's dead.
If you say you have faith in Christ,
but then that faith in Christ
isn't paired with genuine pursuit of obedience,
not perfect,
but genuine pursuit of obedience,
something's not adding up here.
John Calvin says,
we're saved by faith alone,
but the faith that saves is never alone.
In other words,
it's always paired with this outworking of our faith in our lives.
One of the Lutheran confessions,
it says,
good works always follow justifying faith
and are surely found with it,
if it be true and living.
For it is never alone,
but always has with it love and hope.
So Luther himself,
he says,
idle faith is not justifying faith.
You hear the call here,
don't you?
This is a call to live out your faith in Christ,
to show it,
to work it out by pursuing full obedience.
Paul says,
work it out in your life.
If you're a Christian,
if you claim Christ,
show it in your life,
show it to be true,
live it,
walk in the good works
that your Father's prepared for you beforehand,
that you should walk in them.
Let me see your progress
and your joy in the faith.
And not only while I'm there with you,
he says,
but also while I'm gone,
I'm in prison,
I'm not able to be there to oversee you.
And that's the real test,
isn't it?
That's one thing to obey
in the presence of some oversight.
It's a whole other thing
when you think nobody's there watching you,
right?
Maybe you've seen some of these videos
of parents testing the obedience of their children.
I think that this is cruel,
okay?
But they will set up a camera somewhere in the room.
They'll put their children there
in front of a big bowl of candy.
And they'll sit there with them
and they'll say,
I gotta go take a call real quick.
Don't eat any of this.
And then they find an excuse
to get up and leave.
Camera's rolling,
right?
And they see whether or not
their child will obey
in the absence of their immediate oversight.
Believers,
Paul says,
believers
are to work out their faith.
They're to live out their faith.
They're to obey at all times,
right?
And with fear and trembling,
not just because Paul cares about their obedience,
but because we live our lives
in the oversight of a sovereign God
who loves us
and calls us
to constant pursuit of holiness.
Church,
how is this going for you?
How is it going for you?
What part of your faith
needs to be worked out in your life?
What are you struggling with obeying?
What part of the Christian call
seems difficult for you to put on?
You know,
Paul,
he calls us to a high call here.
It's not just things big
and obvious,
obvious sins to put to death,
obvious things Christians ought to do.
He applies this
all the way down
to the attitudes of the heart,
even the way that we speak.
Here at verse 14.
Do all things
without grumbling
or disputing.
How are we doing?
I failed this morning.
Multiple times.
Do all things
without grumbling
or disputing.
You know,
we laugh at that.
We think it's a small thing.
We maybe roll our eyes at it.
Why would Paul
make such a big deal out of this?
But let me tell you,
even the slightest
little bit of grumbling
is sin
that must be put to death.
Especially when we think
about the effect
that it can have
on a church family.
Now you remember Paul's goal
here.
He's writing.
He's fighting.
He's urging them
to pursue unity
in the church,
to work together,
to link arms together.
He wants to see them
have joy in the church
and unity.
The slightest
little bit of grumbling
will disrupt
the unity of the church.
Before a church
burns down
in a bonfire,
a bonfire of disunity,
you know where it starts,
church?
The slightest little flicker
of a grumble.
The slightest little argument
that never gets dealt with.
The slightest little bit
of friction
that we just let time go by
and we'll never handle it.
Paul says,
no, no, no, no, no.
Let everything you do
be done without grumbling
or disputing.
All the way down
to the slightest grumble.
We have to put our sin
to death.
This is a call
to total obedience
to Christ.
And that's a high call,
is it not?
So now let's turn
our attention
to the case.
The case.
Because Paul never leaves
it just as an empty command.
He never does.
He anticipates
that we're going to ask,
well, how do I do that?
Why should I do that?
What's the reason
why we're called
to live like that?
How can sinners like us
even begin
to put sin to death?
And he gives us
three parts here
to this case.
And I'm going to work it
backwards from the bottom up.
Okay?
So why pursue
full obedience?
First reason is,
this is Paul's aim
as your brother.
Philippians,
why do all things
without grumbling
or complaining?
Well, Paul says,
this is what I want for you.
This is why I labored for you.
This is my aim
as your brother.
This is why I'm laying
down my life for you.
This is,
to say it more broadly,
this is the aim
of Christian ministry.
My aim for you,
church,
is not just that
I would see you
come to faith in Christ
and then stay there
as a baby Christian.
Never grow up.
My aim is to see
Christ fully formed
in you.
I want to see you
grow as disciples
of Christ.
I want to see you
progress in maturity.
And none of us
will ever reach
full maturity
until glory.
But we all have
a next step
that we can take
in putting sin to death
and pursuing full obedience.
This is the aim
of Christian ministry.
He says he wants them
to approve
what's excellent
and so be pure
and blameless
for the day of Christ.
Filled with the fruit
of righteousness
that comes through
Jesus Christ
to the glory
and praise of God.
That's chapter 1
verses 10 and 11.
He says in chapter 4,
what you've learned
and received
and heard
and seen in me,
practice these things.
Practice these things.
How much practice
does it take
to go and grumble
and complain?
We don't need
to practice that,
do we?
That comes naturally.
I've got to share
the story.
I was one of my boys
who I will not tell you
which one
was playing a game.
He was pretending.
He was in front
of a mirror
and he was yelling
at that guy
in the mirror
because he was copying him.
Stop copying me.
You're imitating me.
Stop it.
Cut it out.
I said,
you know what, son?
Maybe if you would
just ask him nicely,
he might calm down too.
You don't have to practice
yelling and grumbling
and arguing.
That comes naturally.
We've got to practice
these things.
We've got to practice
holiness.
We've got to practice
making peace
with one another.
Full obedience
is the goal
of Paul's ministry.
Romans 1.
He says,
he received grace
and apostleship.
Why?
To bring about
the obedience
of faith
for the sake
of his name
among all the nations.
It's faith
and it's the
outworking of faith.
That's his goal.
We go to Matthew 28.
Back it all the way up
to the Great Commission
and see,
what did Jesus
command his disciples?
What's the mission
of the church?
Go and make disciples
of all nations,
baptizing them
in the name
of the Father
and the Son
and the Holy Spirit
and teaching them
to what?
To obey
most of what
I commanded you.
everything
to obey all
that I have
commanded you.
This is Paul's goal.
In fact,
he says,
I'd be willing
to die for this.
Even if I'm going
to be poured out
as a sacrificial offering,
as a sacrificial offering
of your faith,
I'm glad
and will rejoice
with you all.
I will give my life,
he says,
for your progress
and joy
in the faith.
We see this
all over Scripture.
I want to take you
to one more place
where maybe you haven't
considered the connection
here.
It's to Jesus'
parable of the sower.
You know the story.
The parable of the sower.
He shares this parable
in Luke chapter 8.
He shares it in several
of the Gospels.
Luke chapter 8,
starting in verse 5,
he says this,
A sower went out
to sow his seed
and as he sowed,
some fell along the path
and was trampled underfoot
and the birds of the air
devoured it
and some fell on the rock
and as it grew up
it withered away
because it had no moisture.
Some fell among thorns
and the thorns grew up
with it and choked it
and some fell into good soil
and that soil grew
and it yielded a hundredfold
and as he said these things,
he called out,
He who has ears to hear,
let him hear.
He explains it
down in verse 11.
He says,
Now the parable is this,
the seed is the word of God.
The ones along the path
are those who have heard
and then the devil comes
and he takes away
the word from their hearts
so that they may not believe
and be saved.
And the ones on the rock
are those who
when they hear the word
they receive it with joy
but these have no root.
They believe for a while
and then at the time
a testing comes
and they fall away.
As for what fell
among the thorns,
they are those
who hear the word
but as they go on their way
they are choked
by the cares
and the riches
and the pleasures of life
and their fruit
does not mature.
But there's another category.
Verse 15.
As for that
in the good soil,
they are those
who hearing the word
hold it fast
in an honest
and good heart
and bear fruit
with patience.
church,
I'm sad to say
that
I have seen
every single one
of these categories
play out.
And Paul knows
that there is
such a thing
as a false
profession of faith.
There is such a thing
as someone
who says
I believe,
I want to
know Christ
and then
for whatever reason
time goes by
the cares of the world
choke it out.
The enemy
takes it away.
They're distracted
by something
and there is no fruit,
no obedience,
no life in Christ.
It is snuffed
out completely.
And so Paul says
my desire for you
Philippians
is that you not
just receive the word
for a minute
and then it's gone.
And that you fall away.
He says
my desire,
I want to be able
to look at you
in the day of Christ
and be proud
that I didn't waste
my time ministering
to you.
I want to be proud
in the day of Christ
that you are fully
formed in him.
That on that day
when every knee
will bow
and every tongue
confess that Christ
is Lord,
I'll look at you
and see that you're
ready to receive him
as king.
My aim,
my goal
in my ministry
is that when he comes
you will be standing
there ready
in the day of Christ.
That's his aim.
How will they do it?
Church,
how will you do it?
How will you
make sure
that the cares
of the world
don't snuff it out?
How will you
make sure
that the temptations
of the enemy
don't draw you astray?
What does he say?
Hold fast
to the word
of life.
Hold fast
to the word
of life.
How does a gospel
minister make sure
his church is growing
even when he's not
there to see it,
to help him,
to minister to him?
He says,
you have the word.
Hold fast
to the word
of life.
This is Paul's aim
in his ministry,
not only this.
Second,
full obedience
is meant to be
your aim
as God's child.
Meant to be your aim
as God's child.
Look there with me
to verse 14 again.
He says,
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.
Here's the idea,
church.
Our identity
shapes
our actions.
Our identity
shapes
our behaviors.
Our identity
shapes our thoughts
and the way
we go about
our life.
If we see ourselves
as part of this world,
as belonging
to this world,
guess what you're
going to act like?
You're going to act
just like this world.
Paul says,
you,
by the grace of God,
have been brought
out of belonging
to this world.
That's what it means
to be a Christian.
You realize this,
right?
To be a Christian
means that by the grace
of God,
you have been given
faith in Christ
and with that faith
in Christ,
you've been given
a new identity
in Christ.
You've been adopted
out of belonging
to this world.
You've been adopted
now as a son
or a daughter
of the living God.
So you're no longer
a part of this crooked
and twisted generation.
You are a part
of the family
of God.
We all know
that any parent
in the room
understands this,
right?
Your children
come to you,
maybe they see
something that
they see somebody
else doing
that they want
to do
or in my family
it's normally
they see somebody
else eating
something that
they want to eat
and so they come
and they say,
well,
dad,
but so and so
is doing it.
So and so
gets to eat
that dessert
and what's my
response?
It's dad.
They're not my
child.
You're my child
and as my child
I expect you
to follow my rules
and I expect you
to obey me
as your father.
You're not a part
of their family.
You're a part
of my family
and so God
says,
as my child
shine as lights
in the world
in the midst
of a crooked
and twisted generation.
You know how normal
it is to grumble,
church?
You know how normal
it is to hear
grumbling
and conversations?
I mean,
you turn on the TV
it doesn't matter
what station,
right?
Politics,
you turn on TV
Fox News,
CNN,
MSNBC,
it doesn't matter
what station it is,
what do you hear?
You hear grumbling
and disputing,
don't you?
You turn on sports,
ESPN,
what do you hear?
You hear grumbling.
I'm about to grumble
about this.
I wasn't going
to say anything
but now I can't
get it out of my head.
All you hear
is grumbling
and disputing.
You can't get away
from it.
You turn on the radio
on the way to work,
what do you hear?
You hear grumbling,
you hear disputing,
you hear arguing.
God says,
not my children.
Not my children.
You belong to me.
The way that we speak,
the way that we act,
the way that we live,
the way that we treat
one another,
the way that we serve
one another,
honors God our Father
when we do it like Christ.
Meant to be our aim
as God's children
but not only this.
Third,
third and finally,
pursue full obedience
because this is God's aim
as your Savior.
This is God's aim
as your Savior.
You realize I have,
I've spent this whole time
telling you what to do
but I haven't given you
power to do it yet.
Here it is.
Look there again
to verse 13.
Actually,
let me back up
to verse 12.
Again,
the command is,
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,
verse 13,
for,
here's the basis,
here's the power,
for,
it is God who works in you
both to will
and to work
for His good pleasure.
Here's the good news
for sinners
and for failures
and for strugglers,
those of us
who are struggling
to live the Christian life.
Here's some really good news
for you this morning.
The power
for the Christian life
from beginning to end
comes from God.
You can't do it.
The power
to put grumbling
to death
cannot come from us.
You can't do it.
If all you hear
this morning
is try harder,
be better,
you've missed it.
You can't do it.
It's God
who works in you
to will
and to work
for His good pleasure.
Paul says work.
Paul says obey.
Paul says pursue
full obedience.
Why?
Because it's God
who works it in you.
This verse is just
absolutely stunning
and it's really
not hard to understand
if we just read it
simply
and so that's what
I'm going to try
to do here, okay?
He tells us
both our working
and our willing
is from God.
Isn't that what he says?
Both our working
and our willing
is from God.
He says your working
is from God.
All the bearing fruit,
all the putting sin
to death,
all the loving
your brother,
all the holding
your tongue
when you want
to grumble
and complain,
all the counting
others more significant
than yourselves.
Where does that
power come from?
Only from God.
It's God
who works it in you,
Paul says.
It's like when I
want to build something
or have some project
I'm doing at the house.
Maybe I'm hanging blinds
or maybe I'm building
a table
and I say,
son,
come build this table
with me.
What are they going
to say?
I can't do that.
I say,
you just hold this drill
and I put it in their hands
and my hands
go on top of his hands
and together
we place the bit
into the screw
and then together
with my fingers
on top of his fingers
together we drive
in that screw
into the wood
and I use some
of my dad's strength
to get it in there
because he can't do it
on his own
and then it's done
and he leaves
and says,
guess what?
I built a table.
Yeah, you did.
But it was the Father.
The Father's work
in you.
And when a Christian
say they hear
God's command
go and share
the gospel
with your neighbor
and go bring
this word of life
to somebody
who doesn't know it
and so they work
up the courage.
They take a risk.
They have this gospel
conversation with somebody
that doesn't know Jesus
and they put themselves
out there
for some social rejection.
They say,
this is the only way
a sinner is saved
is by faith in Christ
and that person responds
and says,
you know,
I want to hear
some more about that.
They go home rejoicing
at what God has done
in and through them.
It's God who works
in you to work
for his good pleasure
but not only that.
Paul says,
even your willing
is from God.
Here's where my analogy
breaks down a little bit,
right?
Because I can't change
anybody's will.
Paul can't change
anybody's will.
I can make my son
come and do what I ask.
I can kind of force
some obedience
but I cannot change
the human will.
But here,
Paul again,
plainly,
he says,
God works in you
to will
for his good pleasure.
Now,
this is a little bit
controversial,
isn't it?
You get into
conversations about
human will
and free will
and God's sovereignty
and everybody starts
to get a little bit tense
and so,
y'all just take a deep breath.
Okay?
Again,
my goal is to make
scripture be plain.
Paul says,
it is God
who works in you
to will
and to work
for his good pleasure.
That doesn't mean
that we don't make
a choice.
Of course not.
You're involved
in the choices
you make
but we make choices,
we need to know
we make choices
in accordance
with our nature
and by nature.
Sinners outside
of Christ
are dead
in the trespasses
and sins.
We're spiritually
dead.
We're unable
to will
the will of God.
Spiritually dead
sinners cannot
desire God.
Those who are
in the flesh,
Paul says
in Romans 8,
cannot please God.
We're not neutral
towards him either.
We're hostile
towards God
in the flesh.
Those who are
in the flesh
cannot please God,
he says.
The mind that's
set on the flesh
is hostile to God.
It does not submit
to God's law.
Indeed,
it cannot.
Martin Luther,
he says that
the human will
is like a beast.
We'll call it a horse.
The human will
is like a horse.
And that horse
is standing
in between
two riders.
If God rides,
he says,
it goes where
God wills.
If Satan rides,
he says,
it goes and it
wills where
Satan wills.
And here's the point.
The beast,
the horse,
can't choose
who rides it.
The riders themselves
fight for control
and possession
of the will.
And so what God does
when he saves
a sinner
is he kicks
that old rider off
and he occupies
your will.
He gives you
a new will.
He enlivens
the sinner's will.
He resurrects
your old,
dead,
sin-chained will
and frees it
to love
and to do
the will of God
to the glory of God.
He gives you
a new heart
that loves Christ
and loves
the law of God
and loves
to obey the Lord
and desires holiness.
And where in the world
did that come from?
It didn't come from you.
It is God
who works in you
to will
for his good pleasure.
The amazing thing
about the Christian life
is that it is God
from beginning to end.
If you,
this morning,
have any desire
for the Lord
in your heart,
if you hear these words
and you want to grow
in obedience,
if you want to know
the Lord
and you want to pursue
him with your life,
praise God.
That is his work in you.
By grace,
you have been saved
through faith.
It is not of your own doing.
It is the gift of God.
Not a result of works
that no man
may boast.
It begins this way
in conversion.
God speaks
and dead bones live.
Jesus calls
and Lazarus
walks out of the grave.
The invitation
is cast
to sinners
and they hear
by the grace of God
and they are made alive
to the glory of God
in the face of Christ.
It begins this way
in conversion
and it continues
this way
all the way
until glory
and the long
duty of sanctification
as God works
holiness
in you.
You realize
any victory
you have
in the Christian life,
any sin
that you put
to death
this week,
any obedience
that you go
and you do a good work
for the glory of God,
you know where that comes from?
It's God
who works in you
both to will
and to work
for his good pleasure.
So church,
let's close
by coming back
to Augustine.
If you're
struggling
with coming
to Christ
this morning,
maybe you just,
if you're being honest,
you don't desire
him at all.
You desire sin,
you desire
the world,
you desire
anything else
other than the glory
of God
and the gospel
of Christ.
Or Christian,
if you are
wrestling
and struggling
with putting
some sin
to death,
you just don't know
how in the world
you can grow out
of this,
wrestling with
giving yourself
completely to him,
maybe if that's you,
you could pray
something like
what Augustine
prayed in confessions.
He prayed this,
Grant what thou
dost command
and then command
what thou wilt.
You remember
his struggle.
I want to follow
you but not yet.
I want to be holy
but not yet.
I want to follow
Christ but not yet.
Augustine struggled
to come to faith
in Christ
and once he came
to faith in Christ
he struggled
to fully obey.
He struggled
like we do
but then he had
this life-changing
realization.
You know what it was?
He realized
he couldn't
do it.
So he said,
you command
self-control.
You command
holiness.
God,
you command
that I love
Christ.
You command
that I follow
Christ but I realize
no one can do it
unless God
gives it.
And so I prayed,
give me the grace
to do as you command
and then command
me to do
whatever you want.
It might be that.
Some of you here
are wrestling in this way
and so here's my
encouragement to you.
Non-believer,
your prayer this morning
might sound like this.
You've commanded me
to repent and follow
Christ but I realize
I cannot do it
so Lord,
I ask now,
would you give me
the grace to do
as you command
and then bid me come.
And for you Christian,
the Christian life
is impossible
apart from the work
of God.
So for that sin
that lingers in the flesh,
for that command
that you just struggle
to find the courage
and the power
to obey,
for that part
of the Christian life
that just seems
impossible for you
to put on,
pray,
Lord,
would you give me
the grace
to do as you command
and ask whatever
you want.
The power
for the Christian life
is from God
and God alone.
Let's pray.
Lord,
we need you.
We come to you
this morning weak.
We come to you
this morning powerless
to do anything
that you've commanded
us to do.
God,
each week I stand up here
and I ask the impossible
Lord in the flesh
you must do it.
Father,
would you give
new life
to those who are dead
in their sins
this morning?
God,
would you bring faith
to those who don't know
you this morning?
Would you cause them
this morning
to call out to you
to have a renewed will
that desires life
in Christ?
Would you do that
this morning?
And Father,
for this church
that I long to see
grow in holiness
and obedience,
Lord,
I can't make it happen.
So Father,
I ask that you would do it.
I ask all this
in Jesus' name.
Amen.
He is here.
Amen.
Thank you.
Amen.