The Work of God IN You, Part 2

Scripture: Philippians 2:12-13

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Insights: Yesterday we looked at what salvation involves.  Today, we are going to explain what Paul is actually talking about when he wrote, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”  The next part of that sentence is the key, “for it is God who is at work IN you.”  This working out of one’s salvation deals with the sanctification process God works IN us to bring about life change and spiritual maturity.  These disciplines we “work out” in our lives are: reading the Bible every day, praying and fasting, witnessing, tithing, serving and sacrificing, attending church services.  There are other spiritual disciplines, but if we will participate in this list to start, then we will experience spiritual growth.  In this growth we will then know God’s good pleasure for which He is working IN us to do.  Let me close today writing about the “fear and trembling” part of the verse.  F.B. Meyer gives a great illustration regarding this concept.  He said to image you were an artist and you got to spend the day with the person in history you considered to be the greatest artist of all times.  Knowing you were going to be given this opportunity would create in you a great deal of excitement and that excitement would be almost uncontainable.  You might actually have moments in which you physically shutter just thinking about spending time with this great artist.  As incredibly cool as that would be to spend the day with your hero, the reality is we get to spend every day with Jesus.  We have every opportunity to ask Him how He would handle the situations of our day.  We can observe His activity as He draws people to Himself.  We get to worship Him because He blows us away with His amazing grace.  We get to experience His restoration of our lives when we sin.  This listing of the daily joys we get to experience in Jesus is only a sampling of all the riches we get to encounter.  These moments ought to fill us with such awe that we are walking around in “fear and trembling.”  To God be the glory!

Questions:

1. Do you awaken each morning with the excitement of getting to spend the day with Jesus?
2. Are you steadfast in pursuing the spiritual disciplines the Lord uses to purge us of our old self?

Prayer: Father, do not let me take for granted the joy of knowing I am in a relationship with You that changes every aspect of my life.  Do whatever is necessary as You work IN me to become the child of God You desire me to be.  Amen. 

The Work of God IN You, Part 1

Scripture: Philippians 2:12-13

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Insights: I want to express what salvation is because many erroneous ideas about salvation have sprung up because of verse twelve.  When Paul wrote, “work out your salvation…” he was not talking about our encounter with Jesus that justifies us before God and brings new life into us.  Tomorrow I will write about what Paul is talking about in this verse.  What is biblical salvation then?  First, is to know that grace is available to you.  God wants to give you a free gift of eternal life with Him and this gift can’t be earned or deserved.  Two, is recognizing that you are a sinner and that there is no way in which you will ever be able to save yourself in your own power, might, strength, speed, intellect, etc.  Three, God loves you and does not want to punish you, but He is at the same time just; and therefore, must punish your sin.  So, how does God solve this apparent contradiction?  Well the fourth step answers that question.  Four, Jesus is the infinite God-Man.  In other words, He is fully God and fully man at the very same time.  What Jesus did for us was to leave heaven and come to earth and live among us.  He taught us the way to live our lives and receive God through His work.  The follow was Jesus’ work: to die on a cross as a sacrifice for your sins and mine.  He bore the punishment that was rightfully ours and He took our sin in His death.  He was then buried, but on the third day God raised Him from the dead as victorious over sin and death.  Five, the final step is to receive by faith this gift for which Jesus paid.  You do that by faith.  Faith is not mere intellect, nor is it just temporary in nature.  Faith is confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. 

Questions:

1. Have you received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?
2. Are you willing to receive Him now?  If so, pray this prayer below and let me know.

Prayer: Father, I recognize I am a sinner and far from You and that I can’t save myself.  So, by faith I confess with my mouth and believe in my heart that Your Son Jesus died for my sins and was buried, but You raised Him from the dead.  Your Son Jesus took my punishment for my sins and has given me eternal life.  I gratefully receive this gift right now and ask for Jesus to be my Lord and Savior.  Amen. 

Jesus' Signal

Scripture: Philippians 2:9-11

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Insights: The bulk of the content in verses nine through eleven deals with God’s exaltation of Jesus, but that is not where I am going to spend our time today.  Our focus will be on the last phrase of verse eleven “to the glory of God the Father.”  This phrase wraps up the fourfold example of Jesus and the way He lived His life.  Paul admonished us back in verse five to have the same attitude of Christ Jesus.  So far, we have seen Jesus is selfless.  Jesus serves others.  Jesus sacrifices greatly.  Today, we see Jesus points others to God the Father and declares His glory.  Everything Jesus did was in order for God to be praised.  In John seventeen Jesus said, “Father the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee.”  Jesus’ example, Beloved, is the way we are supposed to live our lives.  If we are also selfless, serving others and sacrificing greatly, then God is going to be glorified in our lives.  And there is a benefit we receive as well for bring glory to the Father.  The benefit is what Paul alluded to back in verse two when he wrote, “make my joy complete.”  When we live life with the intent to bring glory to God, we will experience overflowing joy.  The process begins with selflessness.  In other words, we have to be willing to humble ourselves and repent of our sinful ways.  We are given a promise, however, in 1 John 1:9.  It states, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  God the Father desires for us to live a life like His Son.  It is for this reason He is faithful and just to forgive us.  He knows only a heart in a proper love relationship with Him is going to be able to serve and sacrifice, which ultimately brings Him glory.  Beloved, point people to the Father and give Him the glory and praise He rightly deserves.  The joy you will experience is beyond compare.

Questions:

1. Are you purposefully directing praise to the Father?
2. Do you need to repent and start the fourfold process of Jesus in order to declare God’s glory?

Prayer: Father, so often I steal Your glory.  Forgive me of such an odious offense.  May this day be a day in which I begin to purposefully point people to You and Your glory.  Amen. 

Jesus' Sacrifice

Scripture: Philippians 2:8

Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Insights: Just as selflessness in words alone is not sufficient, so is service alone not enough as well.  Many people are willing to serve others.  The problem is many of these same people will only serve others when it is convenient for them or if it costs them nothing.  As soon as it is inconvenient or costly these people bolt for the door going ninety-to-nothing.  Dr. J. H. Jowett said, “Ministry that costs nothing accomplishes nothing.  Jesus’ example was more costly than we can possibly fathom.  He, God in flesh, actually died.  This issue of sacrifice is one of the major problems in the church of America.  Let me illustrate this point using an often quoted passage of Scripture around election times, 2 Chronicles 7:14.  It reads, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”  The first condition for God’s intervention is for His people to humble themselves.  It cost a significant amount to humble oneself of pride and ask another person for forgiveness.  Reconciliation is costly.  If we are not even willing to do this first basic step, then we are definitely not going to do the second, which is pray.  This kind of praying is not just the quick rote prayers so many pray every day.  This kind of praying is prolonged times of fervent intercession which often results in tears.  If we are not willing to pray like that, then we are definitely not going to seek God’s face.  This seeking consists of DAILY quiet times with God.  It means being involved in church for everything provided on a regular and consistent basis.  This seeking means walking in a manner worthy of the gospel.  This seeking means being transfixed on God and allowing nothing else to hinder that pursuit.  If we are not willing to seek God like this, then we are definitely not going to turn from our wicked ways.  This turning means to repent.  It is an active and perpetual course change.  We were heading in our own way of sin, but now we turn around and change our actions to line up with God.  To do these four steps is costly.  It will require sacrifice and because sacrifice is painful many avoid it at all costs.  It is for this reason I think the church of America is in the condition it presently finds itself.  Beloved, SACRIFICE!

Questions:

1. In what areas of your life are you sacrificing?
2. What is your sacrifice accomplishing?

Prayer: Father, forgive me so often serving you only when it is convenient.  May my life truly be sacrificial in nature.  May I bring You glory as I sacrifice for You.  Amen. 

Jesus' Service

Scripture: Philippians 2:7

but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

Insights: It would not have been enough for Jesus to have just stated, “I do not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped.”  In order for those words to be true, action had to accompany them.  In other words, we can say to people all day long phrases like, “I love you” or “I forgive you” or “I am not prejudice” or “witnessing to the lost is vital,” but if we do not put action to those words, then they are just not true of our lives.  Our great example, Jesus, did put action to His words.  This truth is what verse seven is all about.  Jesus emptied Himself of all He had in glory and took on the form of a bond-servant and became a human being.  This act of servanthood was not just some temporary identification with humanity.  Jesus became permanently and forevermore human in His incarnation.  Jesus was not just acting out a role as a servant, He actually was a servant.  Think for a moment of Jesus’ ministry.  He is the one who went to the crowds and taught them.  He is the one who when His disciples wanted to send the multitudes away said, “Let’s feed them.”  His own words in Matthew 20:28 are, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Even in His final night of earthly freedom, Jesus took up the towel and performed the role of house servant as He washed His disciples’ feet before the Passover Meal.  Virtually every time we see Jesus in the Gospel’s He is serving someone.  Paul has already told us to take Jesus’ example and model our lives after it.  So, if Jesus was selfless and He was a servant, then we are to be selfless and a servant.  Beloved, let us do all we can to live out our transformed life and bring glory to Jesus as we exemplify Him to this world.  To God be the glory!

Questions:

1. Are you a servant?
2. Do your actions prove your words?

Prayer: Father, forgive me when my life does not reflect my words.  Mold me into a man whose convictions determine his actions.  Let my life be known as a servant.  Amen. 

Jesus' Selflessness

Scripture: Philippians 2:5-6

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,

Insights: In verses one through four Paul has told us there is hope for unity and joy.  He then turned his direction and began to give four examples of what that kind of life looked like in the real world.  He started with Jesus.  At this point I am going to change verb tenses because all I am about to say regarding Jesus’ past is also true of Jesus present.  In other words, Jesus never changes.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever.  He IS God.  His is one essence of the Triune community which comprises the ONE true God.  In principle these words are what the second phrase found in verses five and six is describing.  Jesus is God.  Before His incarnation, coming to earth in flesh as a baby, Jesus existed in the form of God.  Yet, the last phrase describes Jesus’ selflessness.  Even though He existed in the form of God, He did not grasp, strive, battle, manipulate, conspire, twist, or bully His way to equality with God.  Jesus knew He was God and was very comfortable with this reality.  At the same time, He was completely selfless and new He must leave eternity and come to earth in order to save His creation.  Think with me for a moment all Jesus gave up as He existed in the form of God in eternity.  His selflessness cost Him a perfect environment.  There were no hurricanes or blizzards and even if God did desire to create one, it had no devastating effects.  God and His heavenly creation would just enjoy the immense power found in God’s expression of creativity.  Jesus left perfect obedience.  Even in the Lord ’s Prayer, Jesus said, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  When Jesus gave a command in heaven it was perfectly obeyed right then and there.  Jesus left perfect bodies.  I am not saying Jesus had a body before His incarnation, but there were celestial beings who existed and they did not face sickness or death.  Jesus left perfect praise.  If your mind wonders even one second while you are worshipping God, then it is not perfect praise.  Yet, in eternity, Jesus experienced the worship of perfect praise being given to Him by the celestial creation.  Jesus did not find any of these perfect things worth grasping.  He selflessly left them all in order to come to earth to save humanity from their sins. Amen!

Questions:

1. Do you have this same selfless attitude in you that is in Christ Jesus?
2. Are you still driven by recognition and accolades?

Prayer: Father, forgive me for my selfish behavior.  Let the attitude of Jesus become my attitude as well.  May I not grasp for power and position, but rather genuine humility.  Amen. 

Your Situation

Scripture: Philippians 2:1-4

Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

Insights: Chapter one has been Paul’s theoretical expressions regarding joy in the body of Christ.  As he moves into chapter two, Paul gives us four practical examples of individuals who did live their lives out in joy.  He starts with the great example, Jesus, and we will be looking at Him throughout the remainder of this week.  Before we move on to Jesus, however, some foundational statements regarding this passage needs to be mentioned first.  Remember last week I mentioned Paul writes about unity sixteen times in this short letter.  The reason is because this little church of Philippi is being threatened by false teacher from without and divisions from within.  This church is in trouble.  So, Paul starts off with a “therefore if” introduction to Jesus.  In other words, if there is even the smallest measure of encouragement, love, fellowship, affection or compassion left in you, then it is not too late.  There is hope!  Jesus can change you and bring about the next part of Paul’s introduction to Jesus.  Paul says, “make my joy complete by being. . . .”  We are back to the theme of the book.  Paul knows that joy is going to be a byproduct of unity.  Because it is so important, let me state again, if there is a modicum of encouragement, love, fellowship, affection or compassion left in you, then unity can be experienced through Christ Jesus our Lord.  Let’s continue on with this thought.  Paul states his joy is going to be made complete when the church of Philippi begins to live with the “same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.”  Beloved, this sentence is all about unity within the body of Christ.  Paul states the way we are able to find this joy through unity is by emptying our lives of personal pride.  In other words, humbling ourselves and looking to the interests of others before our own personal desires.  Beloved, let us humble ourselves before Christ and strive together for unity and allow God to be glorified as a result of such labor.

Questions:

1. Is there any smidgen of encouragement, love, fellowship, affection or compassion left in you?
2. Are you willing to seek unity in the body of Christ?

Prayer: Father, make my joy complete just as Paul prayed by healing and uniting Your church.  May we be one just as you and the Son are one.  Amen.