WEBVTT

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 Philippians chapter 2, verses 12 to 18.

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 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.

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 For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

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 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.

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 Holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

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 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.

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 Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

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 Good morning.

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 Thanks for opening up this preaching spot for me.

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 It's a great privilege to be able to preach here.

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 And honestly, a great birthday present too.

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 So allow me to lead us in prayer as we come to God's word.

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 Father, you love your church.

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 So as we hear your word this morning, we ask that you press it upon our hearts.

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 Grow our love for you.

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 Build us up into a community that stands united in one spirit, each taking the same attitude as Christ.

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 Amen.

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 It's Saturday morning.

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 The ringing of my phone jolts me awake, destroying the last hope of a sleep-in.

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 What's that?

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 There's no ice for the drinks at the church open day.

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 Sure, I'll come in early and buy some on the way.

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 But inwardly, I'm longing for the warm bed as I feel the cool morning air.

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 Can't someone else do it?

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 I was supposed to be on the later shift.

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 I quickly wolf down some cereal and navigate through the cluttered corridor to the sink.

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 The sink is full of dishes.

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 Why is it always me?

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 Can't they see I'm in a rush?

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 I wash the dishes and head off to help at the church open day, still wishing I was having the day off.

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 What kind of witness will the visitors at that church open day see?

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 What kind of king is on display?

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 The ringing of my phone jolts me awake.

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 It's Saturday morning.

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 What's that?

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 There's no ice for the drinks at the church open day?

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 Sure, I'll come in early and buy some on the way.

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 I'm still groggy from waking up, but I thank God for the day as I open the window and smell the fresh morning air.

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 I had chosen the later shift for exactly this possibility, to be able to cover any jobs that had been missed in planning.

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 I give thanks for God's provision of breakfast and head out to the sink.

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 On the way, I see that my housemates have laid out their things in the corridor, ready to face their own days.

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 I say a quick prayer for their days and thank God for these gospel-minded men.

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 Getting to the sink, I see that I'm not the only one who's in a rush this morning.

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 The sink is full of dishes.

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 Remembering that Christ became the servant of all, I wash up the dishes,

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 so that those still to finish their breakfast can come to an empty sink.

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 I feel annoyed at those who's thoughtlessly left their mess behind.

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 But as I remember that Christ entered my mess, I see how trivial the matter is.

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 I head out to help at the church open day, praying that those who visit might see more than just the historic building,

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 that they would also see the church that gathered there and the one who brought us together.

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 So what's the difference between those two stories?

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 Well, the first one was driven by grumbling and complaining,

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 what we might call a desire for a hassle-free life.

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 And the second one was driven by remembering gospel perspective.

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 It might sound a bit contrived, but that was a real Saturday morning in my life.

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 And that initial attitude to the day ended up setting the tone, not just for that day,

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 but for my whole time at that church.

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 I won't tell you which one is truer to life, but I will give you the question that came from it.

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 How did we get from story one to story two?

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 How did we take on the mind, the attitude of Christ,

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 the one who is God, yet became a servant?

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 How did we respond when faced with life's pressures,

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 the small conflicts and misunderstandings that inevitably arise from community life?

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 How did we deal with the grumbling and arguing that just comes out so naturally when we're under pressure,

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 given jobs that we don't want to do?

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 In this part of the letter, Paul urges the Philippians to live in light of what Christ has done.

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 And we can summarize Paul's instructions with three words.

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 Remember, replace, and rejoice.

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 Remember how you got here and continue obeying by working at your salvation.

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 Replace grumbling with gospel wonder, shining like stars.

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 And rejoice in our gospel partnership, even as we suffer for the gospel.

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 So how are we to respond to Christ's example?

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 Remember, replace, and rejoice.

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 First up is remember.

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 Remember how you got here and thus continue obeying by working at your salvation.

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 Looking at verse 12, these are Paul's beloved.

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 Those who have always obeyed when he was there, but now that he's separated from them, he wants them to continue.

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 This is not a new instruction from Paul, but really an urging for them to keep going on the path that they've already been going down.

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 It's like a coach sending a sports team out onto the field.

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 I've seen you do it in practice, so get out there and do it.

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 Now is not the time to be intimidated by the opposition.

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 Now is not the time to get into petty squabbles with your teammates.

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 Remember what we practiced.

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 Remember, Jesus was obedient to death, death on a cross.

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 He is the servant greater than the master.

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 As followers of the humble king, we have been freed to follow the same path of humble obedience.

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 Now is not the time to lose sight of how he got here.

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 Now, Paul reminded them of their prior friendship and their prior obedience.

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 But there's one more key part to how they got here.

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 Not just Paul working or them working, but they got here because God is working.

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 And second half of verse 12.

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 Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

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 Why?

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 Because it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

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 Notice that when Paul talks about fear and trembling, he's echoing the Old Testament.

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 Proverbs 1.

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 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

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 Or Deuteronomy 4 and Psalm 34.

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 Teach your children to fear the Lord.

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 So not terror.

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 Rather, a right weighty respect in fear and trembling is appropriate.

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 Because God himself is working in you.

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 Your actions reflect back on God.

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 But alongside the weightiness of God working in us, there is a wonder too.

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 Every step we take to becoming more like Christ, the very desire to follow after him, it comes from God.

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 And God works according to his good pleasure.

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 We are temperamental.

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 One day we are passionate.

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 And the next day we are indifferent.

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 But God is not like that.

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 He doesn't feel hot one day and cold the next.

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 Unlike our failing and stumbling efforts, he always loves to work in us as we work out our salvation.

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 He works according to his good pleasure.

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 Maybe one way to grasp how this should make us feel is like this.

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 Imagine a plane designed to teach learner pilots.

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 It has two sets of controls.

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 One set for the student and one set for the teacher.

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 Piloting a plane is a weighty responsibility.

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 And fooling around will lead to disaster.

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 But when the teacher is there, watching, ready to correct any mistakes,

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 the student pilot can feel safe and confident to take off and learn how to fly.

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 God calls us to trust him and to live like Christ, even when humble service feels scary and daunting.

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 But even better than a flying instructor.

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 God gives us everything it takes to step out into the unknown, to step out in vulnerability.

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 How can I approach that person who hurt me and seek reconciliation?

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 It's just too hard, too daunting.

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 I would rather just sweep it under the rug and let it fester.

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 But God is working in you.

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 You can step out knowing that he loves gospel reconciliation.

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 And he's working according to his good pleasure.

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 Stepping out in vulnerability and faith can be so daunting that it feels like death.

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 We hold our idols so closely that letting go of them, to put them in their proper place, feels like death.

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 How could I possibly live without a secure job?

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 How could I possibly live without getting married, with this aching loneliness inside?

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 Or how could I possibly live in this marriage that no longer satisfies?

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 It can feel like death, letting go of an idol.

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 But remember, Christ Jesus humbled himself to death.

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 Death on a cross, so that we can live with him, the one exalted to the highest place.

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 Remember, God is working in you.

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 So step out in faith, working out your salvation with fear and trembling.

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 So we're called to remember how we got here.

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 Remember, you've already started down the path.

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 And remember, that God is the one working in you.

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 Remember, so that you can step out.

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 But there's also a kind of stepping out that's begrudging.

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 Saying, God, I've given up so much and now you owe me.

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 I've done this for you.

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 And now you have to do this for me.

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 And this brings us to our second point.

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 Replace grumbling with gospel wonder, shining like stars.

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 Grumbling and disputing was the problem that Paul wanted to nip in the bud at Philippi.

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 Look at verses 14 and 15.

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 And this time, keep an ear out for the echoes of Israel in the wilderness after the Exodus.

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 Verse 14.

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 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.

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 When Israel wandered in the wilderness, they forgot God's promises.

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 They didn't believe God.

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 They didn't remember.

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 And so, they muttered, murmured, grumbled, and they complained.

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 Seemingly small complaints about fish and cucumbers and leeks spread.

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 Morphing into accusations that God had rescued them from Egypt just to kill them.

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 It seemed small, but ultimately, it undermined their ability to live as God's children.

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 Far from being a shining light to the nations, Israel became as warped and as crooked as the nations.

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 They forgot what God had done.

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 They forgot why they had been rescued in the first place.

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 They didn't remember how they got to where they were, nor did they remember where they were going.

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 But Paul tweaks the image.

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 The Philippians are pictured as blameless, shining amongst the crooked and twisted generation, pulling in imagery from Daniel 12.

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 And this is what Paul wants.

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 Instead of grumbling and disputing, their imagination is captured by what they are already and what they are becoming in the future.

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 Blameless children of God, shining like lights and holding fast to the word of life.

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 To grumble and dispute as God's children is like kids whining on the way to the beach.

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 Are we there yet?

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 How much longer?

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 Rather than seeing that the trip is necessary to get to the beach, we focus on the short discomforts on the way.

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 Or imagine a wedding.

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 Now the people go silent.

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 The minister says, the bridal party has arrived, please be upstanding.

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 The music starts.

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 The bridal party walks down the aisle.

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 But then when it comes to the bride's turn, she grumbles and argues with her father the whole way down to meeting the groom.

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 It's a ridiculous picture, isn't it?

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 But we have so much more to look forward to than a day at the beach or a wedding.

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 We are the children of God, shining amongst a crooked and twisted generation, holding fast to and holding out the very word of life.

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 So, remember how you got here.

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 And remember where you're going.

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 Replace grumbling and complaining with gospel perspective.

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 But what does it look like practically?

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 Well, maybe it means committing some time every day to remembering what God has done that day and thanking him for it.

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 Or maybe it means taking a to-do list and seeing it in context of what Christ has done and where he's taking us.

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 And just seeing how that reshapes how we see our whole to-do list.

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 Or maybe it means for you to commit to praying to God to reorient your focus from comfort now to the kingdom work that is happening all around us.

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 And this brings us to Paul's final instruction of the passage and our third point.

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 Rejoice in our gospel partnership, even as we suffer for the gospel.

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 In the second half of verse 16, Paul shifts back to talking about their relationship with him.

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 Their continued obedience becomes proof that Paul's work in Christ was not in vain.

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 And in verse 17, Paul even pictures their faith as the main sacrifice and his life and suffering as the accompanying drink offering being poured on top.

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 And a helpful answer to understand how this works is to look back at chapter 1, verse 28.

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 It says,

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 So when Paul hears of them standing united in the gospel, it's a sign.

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 So when he hears of them obeying, working at their salvation, not grumbling but shining like stars, it's a sign.

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 It's a sign that the final day of vindication will come.

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 A vindication of Paul's catch cry.

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 To live, Christ.

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 And death, gain.

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 Vindication of Paul saying,

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 Whatever gain I had, I count it as loss for the sake of knowing Christ.

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 And so Paul rejoices in what the Philippians are doing and what he hears of them.

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 And in verse 18 of chapter 2, he also calls on the Philippians to rejoice with him.

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 Because their obedience and struggle in the face of opposition and suffering is proof that they are partakers of the same grace.

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 It's like that feeling when your team wins the championship or when Australia wins the Ashes.

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 Have this shared glory, a sense of unity, that we're on the same side and we're sharing this victory.

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 But consider another layer.

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 Imagine what it feels like not just to be a fan of the team that won, but to actually be on the team that won.

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 The trophy makes all the hard work and training feel worth it.

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 If athletes can endure tough training regimes for a gold medal,

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 if a team can make costly sacrifices for a trophy,

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 how much more for us, the sign of our coming vindication, give us cause to rejoice?

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 So there's no space for comparing or complaining.

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 For saying, I can't be happy because that other person is so gifted.

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 Or because that other person is doing so well.

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 Rather, when we see each other striving to obey, to keep a gospel perspective,

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 it's a sign of our coming vindication.

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 And it's a great cause for us to rejoice with them,

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 seeing that their obedience and their striving is a sign that we are going to be vindicated on the day of Christ.

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 When suffering, opposition and hardship for the gospel comes, it might feel like dying.

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 Indeed, for Paul, it didn't just feel like dying.

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 Dying was a very real possibility.

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 But it's another reminder that we share in Christ.

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 Following his obedience to death and following his vindication.

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 Life, Christ, and death, gain.

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 So, church family, remember.

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 Remember Christ's example.

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 Remember how we came to be here.

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 Remember the one working in us.

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 And remember where we're going.

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 Remember so that grumbling is replaced by gospel perspective.

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 And having that gospel perspective.

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 Rejoice in the confirmation of our coming vindication.

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 How do we have the mind of Christ?

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 Three things.

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 Remember.

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 Replace.

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 Rejoice.

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 Rejoice.

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