Why Do You Work?

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.

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,

Romans 4:5

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,

Revelation 3:20

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,

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

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