This is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, sufficient, authoritative word for his people.
Philippians 2, starting at verse 5.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,
who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant,
and coming in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death on the cross.
Therefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and those on earth and of those under the earth,
and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
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.
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Thanks be to God. You may be seated.
The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever.
Amen.
Let's pray.
Lord, help us to receive your steadfast love once again today through the ministry of your word,
as you've already ministered to us, Lord, through the reading, through prayer, through song.
Help us to know, Lord, how close you are to your people,
how present your Holy Spirit is inside the believer and with your people
when we gather in Christ's name in a special way.
Please illumine, Lord, these pages of the scripture to us and press it home in our lives.
We ask that your Holy Spirit will give us clarity on how to walk with you
and how it is that you want to apply this truth to our lives.
For your glory we ask.
Amen.
Well, you all came to church today.
Why?
You read your Bible this week.
Why did you do that?
You showed kindness.
You served others.
You served in many ways.
Many of you prepare meals for this congregation.
Why do we do these things?
Why is it that we work?
Verse 12, it says,
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
So, beloved congregation,
my question for us today is,
Why do you work?
Why is it that you obey the Lord Jesus?
First, I want to point out,
this is from my own weakness,
three fleshly ways that I'm tempted to work.
So, here are three wrong reasons why we should work and obey.
My flesh wants to read those verses this way.
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Satan wants to accuse me and tell me,
You know that you've sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
You've fallen with Adam and your own sin on top of that.
You're weighted down.
Picture a pit dug out in the middle of your backyard that's very deep.
When we're in the gym at Mammoth Heights,
as deep as that ceiling is,
you are down at the bottom of a pit.
You have fallen short of the glory of God.
And then I come to a verse like this,
and it says,
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
And my flesh wants to tell me three wrong ways to read that verse.
Here's one of them.
I want to read,
Work for your own salvation.
In other words,
Work to climb out of this pit that you're in.
Earn your righteousness by being good enough.
Doesn't your flesh want to read that to you that way sometimes?
Here's a second wrong way we can read this verse.
Work at your own salvation.
In other words,
just be down there in the bottom of the pit and keep trying harder.
As if God were looking over this pit at everyone down there,
and he's going to watch to see who's working at it,
who's trying hard.
And those are the ones that he'll save.
And the third wrong way I can try to read this verse according to my flesh
is that I can work toward my salvation.
It's like God is throwing me a rope,
but I got to now rock climb out of this pit with the rope supporting me.
Work toward it.
But look very carefully in your own Bible.
What does verse 12 say?
It doesn't say work for,
work at,
work toward.
It says work out your own salvation.
So we just need to unpack what this means.
But then the back part of that same verse,
it says work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
My flesh can want to read that this way.
You need to work as a Christian because if you don't work,
evil will prevail.
You need to tremble at the thought of not having done enough in this life to make it to heaven.
Well, Proverbs 14, 12 says,
there is a way that seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death.
And if I'm still working in this wrong way,
according to my own flesh,
you're going to work hard your whole life
and find out in the end there's death.
If you're a Christian,
this means you trust by faith that Jesus Christ has finished the work.
He's already crushed the serpent's head.
Evil cannot prevail.
Jesus Christ came to give life and peace everlasting,
but he only gives this as a free gift.
Romans 4, verse 5,
couldn't make it any clearer.
To the one who does not work,
but believes in God,
who justifies the ungodly,
his faith in Jesus Christ,
God counts as righteousness.
So don't think like a pagan.
Don't let Satan twist your thoughts
that you can work for or at or toward your own salvation.
Ascalus was a Greek tragedy writer,
like a theater guy.
And so he wrote some of the most famous tragedies
about 500 years before Christ.
And in one of his plays,
he had this famous phrase that's still quoted today,
and it says this,
the gods help those who help themselves.
See, that's not what this verse is saying at all.
And if we read it like a pagan,
this is the way that leads to death.
So what does this verse mean?
I gave you three or four ways to not read it
according to the flesh,
but I want to now give you 12 correct reasons
for why we should obey the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let's go back to that analogy of the pit.
So it's true.
The Bible says,
for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
You and I are helplessly all alone
in the bottom of the pit.
But the verses that come right before verse 12,
which we just read,
it says that God himself got muddy
and he went to the very bottom of the pit where you are.
And he finished the work that you could never do
to climb out of that pit.
And the father exalted him.
And by faith, God brings you with Christ.
So you're no longer in the pit.
That word work out in verse 12,
that's the verb.
It was used in the same first century
by another Greek author named Strabo
to speak of digging silver out of silver mines.
Go work out the silver from the mine.
Go work it out.
So your salvation can be compared to this massive gift.
It's a mine full of silver and gold and diamonds
that need to be worked out.
It's like Jesus already owns it.
This mine is his.
He bought this mine with his precious blood.
And he's sending you in there.
You already have the deed in your hand.
You just need to go and walk out with what is yours.
Go work it out.
That's a better picture of our state.
He tells you to work it out
and understand how these treasures
can be for someone like you.
How is it that this verse can be true?
2 Corinthians 8, 9.
Though he was rich,
yet for your sakes he became poor,
that you,
through his poverty,
might become rich.
So why should you work out your own salvation?
Why should you obey King Jesus?
Number one,
let's go into this mine of God's word
and let's pull out a treasure.
You should obey the Lord Jesus Christ
because it's the logical thing to do.
Another way of saying that is
if you don't obey this Savior
who humbled himself to such an extent
and who is exalted above all,
if you don't obey him, you're crazy.
The word therefore,
it means it's the only logical,
consecutive response.
The word therefore means
it's designed as the result of his mission.
Christ's mission to descend and to save you.
The purpose of that is
so that you would obey him as your king.
For by grace you have been saved through faith
and this is not your own doing.
It is the gift of God,
not a result of work
so that no man may boast.
For we are his workmanship
created in Christ Jesus
for good works,
which God prepared beforehand
that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2, 8 through 10.
So obey Jesus Christ.
Therefore,
obey him because it's
the only logical response.
It's the designed result
of his mission for your life.
Number two,
obey Jesus Christ
because you are beloved in Christ.
Look at verse 12 again.
This is how he addresses the church.
He calls them my beloved.
He can say,
these are my beloved people
because Christ has called me beloved.
And in him,
we are the beloved bride of Christ.
The New Testament,
every single book
by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit
refers to Christians,
to you and me,
to the church,
as the beloved of Christ.
That's your identity.
You should obey him
because you have been adopted
lovingly into his family.
If we have the mind of Christ in us,
this is how we will view one another
as a beloved brother or sister
in Christ.
We obey in love as a child.
Like the prodigal son
who's now in the father's house.
The father needs something,
notices something,
or just has regular work
that needs to be done.
It's a delight for that prodigal son.
I'm just happy to be in my father's house.
It's no chore.
I love my father.
John Calvin commented,
obedience is the evidence of that honor
which children owe their parents.
So obey because you are
a beloved child of God in Christ.
Number three,
obey our Lord Jesus Christ
because you are called by God.
Obey Jesus Christ
because you are called by God.
When he says in verse 12,
just as you have always obeyed,
that word obeyed,
it means listen,
attend,
answer.
To give you an example,
in Acts 12, 13,
when Peter knocked at the door
of the gate
and a servant girl named Rhoda
came to respond,
it's the same word.
She came to obey,
to answer,
to attend,
or to respond
to that knock at the door.
In the book of Revelation,
Revelation chapter 3,
verse 20,
to the church in Laodicea,
Jesus says,
behold,
I stand at the door
and knock.
If any man will hear my voice
and open the door,
I will come in
and sup with him
and he with me.
And he's calling the church
collectively
to respond,
to obey,
attend,
come to Christ.
He calls you.
He's calling you by name.
So you obey our Lord Jesus Christ
because you are called
by God to respond.
Number four,
you obey our Lord Jesus Christ
for his sake alone.
You obey him for his own sake.
Paul writes to the church,
not only in my presence,
but now much more
in my absence.
You'll notice how he said,
in my presence,
you obeyed.
But now he says,
much more in my absence,
work it out.
And so when Paul is with them,
it's this sense of
obey,
you know,
like little children.
Do what you're told,
follow the instructions.
Now he's absent.
The Lord has removed him.
They need to mature.
They need to go into the mind
and work it out
for themselves
from the scriptures.
They need to,
they need to own it
for themselves now.
Don't just do
what the apostle's telling you.
Go work it out.
Grow in your maturity.
Do it for Christ's sake alone.
Let me put it this way.
We can only work out
what God has worked in us.
So if you are not
a follower of Jesus,
you don't have to obey
these things.
In fact,
if you do,
it'll be probably
under the flesh
trying to save yourself.
Don't take the commands
of the Bible
as rules
if you don't have
a relationship with God.
famous expression
is that
rules without relationship
produce rebellion.
But if Jesus
is the one
who has called you,
if you know him,
if you've tasted
of his steadfast love
toward you
and his kindness
and you don't deserve it,
you have a relationship
with him,
he's your king,
he's exalted,
then your behavior
will flow
from your belief.
you will obey
King Jesus
because you have
a relationship
with him
and you will do it
for his sake alone.
Verse 5,
I'm sorry,
verse 12 says,
work it out.
So I said,
don't work it out
unless God's worked it in you.
What do we mean by that?
I mean that
you should only obey Jesus
if he has already
worked his salvation
in you.
And how does he do that?
The Bible teaches
that God implants
by the ministry
of the Holy Spirit
the redemption
of our soul.
He puts it inside
of you.
Christ accomplished
the redemption
one time for all.
And the Holy Spirit
applies the redemption
that Christ accomplished
in his timing
in each individual soul.
As we work out
the new life
that God implanted
in us,
his saving grace
becomes more and more evident
within the Christian community.
Moises Silva commented
that personal salvation
will manifest itself
primarily
in healthy relationships
within the Christian community.
That's the natural
outworking
of a regenerated heart.
They will know
you are Christians
by your love.
Love one another.
This is the outworking
of that redemption
that the Holy Spirit
applies.
Number six,
obey the Lord Jesus Christ
because the salvation
is already your own.
Obey because this salvation
is already yours.
He's already redeemed
his people.
And when he says
work out your own salvation,
it's in the plural.
It's for the church congregation
gathered together.
It's mutual.
It's corporate.
He says,
Church,
when you are gathered
together
in the name of Christ,
grow in your understanding
of all that Christ
accomplished for you.
First Peter 1.9
says,
The end of your faith
is the salvation
of your souls.
The end of your faith
is the salvation
of your souls.
This whole walk
by faith
in this life
is for your final salvation.
Salvation takes
the whole scope
of our life
in Christ
now on this earth.
Every outworking
of it.
Salvation means
delivered,
preserved,
safe.
So he's saying,
Church,
go dig through
the scriptures together.
Come to Sunday school.
Discuss
what's in the Bible.
Meet with one another.
Gather in his name.
Study the Bible together.
Ask these questions.
Work it out.
How is it
that you are delivered?
How is it, Christian,
that you are safe
in Christ?
How is it
that we,
as his church,
already belong to him?
How is it
that this salvation
is already our own?
It's already ours.
Let's grab hold
together
of his promises
and encourage
one another
with the word
of scripture.
number seven,
obey our Lord
Jesus Christ
with fear.
Obey
without ever
forgetting
that you live
in the holy
inner courtroom
of God
the creator.
Romans 13,
seven says,
we are to show fear
to whom
reverential fear
is due.
There's a healthy
fear of respect
and reverence
that every man
owes
to an authority.
Sinclair Ferguson's
comment is that
God is God
and you are
but one of his
creatures.
Your only joy
is to be found
in obeying him.
So obey God
in this reverential
fear because
that's what you
owe him.
Now fear
is also the emotion
that causes us
to flee
and run away
from something.
The Bible does
tell Christians
to flee temptation.
We need to
obey him
with fear
of ever grieving
such a loving
Savior.
That should be
a fear
in our lives.
This one
stretches me
but according
to scripture
we are also
to fear
the thought
of forsaking
God.
See,
he gives us
the gift of faith
and he's also
the one who
preserves us
with faith
so that we
won't forsake him.
But we need
to have a healthy
fear that if it
were left to myself
I would forsake him.
My faith
would run out.
Hebrews 4,
1 says,
since a promise
remains for
entering his rest
let us fear
lest any of you
seem to have
come short of it.
We obey him
knowing that this
life is temporary
and the eternal
state of our souls
is with God.
We obey him
with a reverence
and a fear
a total dependence
on him
preserving us.
Number 8
obey the Lord
Jesus Christ
with trembling.
tremble
at God's
majestic
glory.
See,
the glory
of the Lord
will knock us
on the floor.
The angels
swarm around
the presence
of the Lord
and the angels
have to cover
their glorious
spiritual faces
in the presence
of the Holy God.
And when just
one of those angels
who's at the throne
of God
appears on earth
look at the reaction
of a human being
like us.
Mark 16
Mary Magdalene
and Mary
the mother of James
they came
and they saw
Christ's tomb
empty
and the angel
appeared to them
just one.
Then they went out
and fled
from the tomb
for trembling
and astonishment
were gripping them
and they said
nothing to anyone
for they were afraid.
When we realize
that we're living
our life
quorum Deo
before the face
of God
we should tremble.
we should tremble
at the thought
that if Christ
were not there
to shield us
from the holiness
of God
we would melt.
We should tremble
at the thought
of if Christ
had left us
going on the way
that our flesh
wants to walk
our fate
is eternal death
and destruction.
We should tremble
and it's a good
loving tremble
because it pulls us
back to submission
to be on our face
before God
and to obey Him
with such trembling.
See God is the one
who made you able
to respond to Him
by grace
and that doesn't
diminish
the fact that
we are now
responsible.
He made us
able to respond
and John Chrysostom
who was also
a native Greek speaker
he commented
very early on
in the history
of the church
the language
is so strong
here to work out
your salvation
with fear
and trembling
it implies
great effort
with every care
bring about
this obedience
run
as though you're
trembling before God
the Holy God
not to work
for any salvation
but because you realize
how great
is the salvation
He's already
given you in Christ
there's a healthy
trembling
in our obedience.
Number nine
obey our Lord Jesus Christ
with confidence
that He is working
in you.
Obey
the Lord Jesus Christ
with the confidence
that as you obey
it is God Himself
who works in you.
Do you see this
in verse 13?
Hold on to this promise
it is God Himself
who works in you.
How does God work
in His people?
It's the Holy Spirit
dwelling inside the believer
and it's through
the means that He's provided
through the ministry
of His Word
through prayer
and through the sacraments.
1 Thessalonians 2.13
says the Word of God
is at work
in you
who believe.
And our verse here
for today
says that it is
God Himself
who works
in you.
Matthew Henry's
encouragement to us
is work
for God works.
Be ready
to comply
with every discovery
of the will of God.
Go on
in the Christian faith
in utter dependence
upon the grace
of God.
Obey
with confidence
that God
is working
in you.
Number 10.
Obey
because
it is God
who works in you
to will.
Obey
because God
is giving you
the will
to obey Him.
James Montgomery
Boyce pointed out
there are three
aspects of your life
and mind
that we have
zero willpower
over.
It's our physical
aspect,
intellectual aspect,
and spiritual aspect.
So physically
you can't have
enough willpower
to be in the NBA
most of you
and me.
You can't have
enough willpower
to sing in the opera.
Maybe you know
you just don't have
the vocal cords
or the lungs
or the ear
to hear the pitch.
So we don't have
willpower over
the physical aspects
of our life.
We also don't have
willpower over
our intellectual
aspect.
I can't will
or choose
to have
50 points
higher on the IQ.
I just can't.
And how about
spiritually?
We also don't have
willpower
spiritually
until
God does
what He says
in verse 13.
He works in you
to will.
Ephesians 2
says you are dead
in your trespasses
and sins
until
like John 3
the Spirit
blows
wherever it wishes
and regenerates you
makes you born again
to open the eyes
of faith
makes you
responsible.
So
spiritually
a dead man
would never
choose to pray.
A dead man
will never decide
to follow Jesus.
But it's God
who works in you
to will
to wish
to desire.
Ephesians 3
20 says
He is able
to do far
more abundantly
beyond
all that we ask.
We ask
what we want
what we wish
what we will
even beyond
what we understand.
And how does
He do this?
According to
the power
that works
within us.
It's God
who causes you
to will
to obey Him.
Number 11
obey because
it's God
who works
in you
to do.
It's God
who also
works in you
to do.
James 2
14 says
what does it
profit my brethren
if someone says
he has faith
but does not
have works?
Faith by itself
if it does not
have works
is dead.
Well how can
that be?
This means
that
if your life
is detached
from Christ
if you are not
utterly dependent
on Christ
you can have
no hope
of producing
anything good.
Why?
Because verse 13
says it is God
who works in you
to do.
Put it the other way
have you done
something in obedience
to God this week?
Most likely
all of us have.
Who gets the glory
for that?
You or God?
If you did something
in obedience
to God this week
it's because God
was the one
working in you
to do that very thing.
This is so humbling
and also so liberating.
Charles Spurgeon
felt this beautiful
tension
and the liberty
that comes with it.
He said
I desire
because God
gave me that will
to press forward
for my master
in all things
but if I start
trusting my own
obedience
for my righteousness
then I'll be
ten times worse
than a madman.
Calvin pointed out
the same thing.
He said
there are
in any action
two principal parts
the will
and the effective
power.
Both
for sure
Paul prescribes
to God
what more remains
for us
to glory in.
See we can't do
anything without
a will
and without
the power
to do it.
And this verse 13
says very clearly
both the will
and the power
come from God
so that he gets
all the glory.
and number
12
obey our Lord
Jesus Christ
for his good
pleasure.
Obey the Lord
Jesus Christ
for his good
pleasure.
This word can be
translated as
for his
satisfaction
for his approval.
in Luke 2
14
the angels
show up
and they say
glory to God
in the highest
and on earth
peace among men
with whom
God is
pleased.
It's that same
word
for his good
pleasure.
And the word
for means
according to
or in alignment
with that which
pleases God
which brings
satisfaction
to God.
So we
act
in a way
that is
pleasing
in alignment
with God's
good pleasure
God's satisfaction.
We put ourselves
in the path
of God's
favor.
We obey
because it
brings pleasure
to God
and it puts us
in the path
of his
satisfaction
his love
his blessing.
Someone pointed
out
the only
acceptable
activity
on our part
is that which
is good
and pleasing
to God.
So it
controls
our good
works.
And it's
for the
purpose of
God
pouring out
his pleasure
his loving
kindness
beyond himself
through you
so that you
also and those
you are serving
will benefit
from the
overflow
of his
grace.
Those are
the 12
reasons I see
in this
passage for
Christians to
joyfully
obey him
have the
mind of
Christ
to put
the
passage
all
together
the
teaching
here
is
this
Christians
therefore
in view
of Christ's
humiliation
and work
to make
you
his
beloved
because he
has caused
you to
obey him
ever since
he began
a good
work in
you
now
work out
your own
salvation
with fear
and trembling
trusting
that it
is God
who works
in you
both to
will
and to
do
for his
good
pleasure
Christians
brothers and
sisters
if Christ
has pulled
you out
of that
pit
and brought
you to
the silver
mine
that's packed
full of
treasure
we have
full
access
to the
bounty of
heaven
in Jesus
Christ
we need
to go
into it
dig in
it's the
word of
God
at work
in you
who believe
we need
to carry
out in
our pockets
all the
diamonds
the silver
and the
gold
that we
can find
every day
we will
have all
the supply
we need
from God
for life
and godliness
the salvation
this deliverance
the safety
is already
yours
in Christ
don't
sit
passively
at the
edge
of your
salvation
ask God
to grow
your desire
and your
energy
to go
in
and get
what he
has given
you
in Christ
to grab
hold of
it
to possess
it even
better
to know
each truth
to enjoy
each promise
to savor
each blessing
and then thank
God for the
abundance of
his riches
for you
what else
could you do
but want to
share this
this glorious
abounding
love of God
in Christ
with others
and that's the
mission of the
church
work out our
salvation
together
all glory
be to
God
let's pray
father
thank you
that you
made yourself
poor
so that we
might be
rich
thank you
for your
word
how it
reveals to
us how
you have
acted in
history
and what
you intend
to accomplish
in our
lives now
as your
people
we pray
father
that you
will
continue
to provide
supply
for us
every need
lord
in life
and in
godliness
we bring
these
requests
to you
lord
we pray
that we
can
sharpen
one
another
that we
can share
the treasures
that you
provide us
by the
ministry
of your
holy spirit
in the
church
in jesus
name we
pray
amen