Philippians 2:12-18

Well, tonight we're looking at the letters of the Philippians, chapter 2.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

If you want to turn in a Bible, you can feel free to do that.

It'll also be up on the screen if you're looking in one of the Pew Bibles, page 981,

Philippians chapter 2, beginning at verse 12.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

As we go through this passage tonight, if you have questions, you can save them in your

mind or jot them down because we'll have a time, as we usually do at the end of our evening

service, for you to ask any questions that come to your mind about the sermon passage tonight.

Tonight we're looking at Philippians chapter 2, verses 12 through 18, as we continue through

Philippians 2:12–18

this letter of Paul to his dear friends.

So let's read together.

Philippians chapter 2, beginning at verse 12.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

Paul says this,

Well, if you do any driving around the New Haven area, one of the most striking changes

that is going on right now is the construction of the new Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge, also

known as the Q Bridge.

It's where Route 95 crosses the Quinnipiac River.

The bridge is the centerpiece of a massive construction project, which includes widening

Route 95 for 13 miles in each total in two directions and redesigning the intersection of Route 95 and

Route 91.

Now, even if you don't drive, let me say this to you.

This is a project that has needed to happen for a long time.

The old Q Bridge was constructed 60 years ago, almost.

It was designed for 90,000 vehicles a day.

Now it has to deal with 150,000 vehicles crossing it each day.

The intersection between 95 and 91 has been ranked at times one of the 10 worst bottlenecks in the entire country,

causing numerous accidents, traffic delays, and frustrations.

But while this project has been needed, it has not always been easy.

It started back in 1989, 25 years ago.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation initiated a study because they realized that

the bridge and the highway would need a major overhaul.

It took 12 years and over 100 alternative proposals being considered and rejected until in 2001 a plan was finally approved.

The cost was estimated at $800 million.

Well, preparations began for construction in 2001, but then the New Haven City government

and the Connecticut Department of Transportation couldn't agree on what to do with two historic buildings

that stood in the path of the new bridge.

Well, they figured that one out, finally put the project out to bid, and for six months, nobody bid on it.

Because construction companies didn't like the structure of the project and how it was put out to bid.

So then they had to redesign it and cut it up into different pieces.

Now the total cost is estimated to be over $2 billion, more than twice the original estimate.

Now, despite all these complications, when the project will be finally finished next fall,

hopefully, it will be pretty amazing, I think.

The new bridge will accommodate five lanes of traffic in each direction.

Thirteen miles of Route 95 from Brantford to West Haven, a big bottleneck, a big traffic problem,

will be significantly widened.

And the whole downtown New Haven intersection and exits and on-ramps will be totally redesigned.

Instead of a rickety, overcrowded, rusty bridge that as you drive over it, you wonder,

will it just start falling into the river as I'm driving over it?

The new bridge will be elegant, solid, and enduring.

According to some architects, it's one of the first bridges of its kind in the United States.

It's called an extra-dose bridge.

You can go on Wikipedia and find out what that means.

It will be the centerpiece of the highway restoration project,

facilitating traffic going from north to south and east to west.

Now, even now, though the project...

So, some of you are...

I don't know, maybe some of you are...

You live on campus and you never get more than three blocks off,

and you haven't even seen this bridge.

I guess I'll just have to admit this taps into my childhood fantasy of being a civil engineer,

which I've never totally lost.

And fascination with civil engineering.

But, anyway, someday you can see it.

So, though the project is still unfinished, you can get a glimpse of how amazing it will be.

If you're going on 95 North, you take the 34 ramp to New Haven,

you get this really neat view of the whole New Haven skyline as you come into the downtown,

which you never had before.

Or if you go to the top of East Rock,

the new bridge now stands out as a thing of beauty,

spanning the water.

Or if you look from below at the orange-red steel girders that hold up the bridge,

you can see their strength and enduring nature.

Now, tonight in Philippians 2,

the Apostle Paul gives a vision of the church

as God's new construction project,

as a thing of beauty,

shining in the midst of darkness,

as a solid pathway

in a crooked and twisted world.

So, tonight I want to look at three questions

that our passage answers.

First, why is God's church

desperately needed?

Second,

if it's needed,

why is it so hard

to build?

And third,

why is it worth it,

after all?

So, first,

why is God's church

desperately needed?

Well, the answer Paul gives

is that the church

is the visible demonstration

of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Now, last week we looked at

verses 5 through 11,

and if you have a Bible open,

look up at those verses.

There may be the most important verses

in this whole book of Philippians,

because they summarize

the gospel message.

In other words,

the basic, central,

Christian message

from which everything else flows out.

It says in verse 6,

Christ Jesus,

though he was in the form of God,

did not count equality with God

as a thing to be grasped,

but emptied himself.

In other words,

Jesus Christ,

the eternal Son of God,

humbled himself

and became a human being.

He entered into this world.

And then verse 8 goes on to say,

he didn't just enter into this world,

he humbled himself

to the point of dying on a cross.

He poured himself out

in obedience to God

and in sacrificial love

for flawed and sinful people like us.

And then,

God looked upon what Jesus had done

and said,

that is true humility.

That is faithful obedience.

That is sacrificial love

more than anyone else

has ever demonstrated

or would ever demonstrate.

That is a sacrifice

perfect

and sufficient to cover every sin,

even the worst.

And that is faithful,

complete obedience to God

worthy of the highest praise.

And so verses 9 through 11

says that God raised Jesus

from death to life

and he exalted Jesus

as the Lord over all.

And one day,

this Jesus who died on the cross

and rose again

will rule over everything

and all creation

will acknowledge

his rightful rule.

Every knee will bow

and every tongue confess.

That's the basic,

that's the heart

of the Christian message.

Now maybe you've heard it before,

but let me ask you,

it raises a question.

Have you bowed your knee

before Jesus?

Have you acknowledged him

as the rightful Lord

over everything,

including you?

A few years ago,

a friend of mine

became a Christian in college

and he was talking

with his dad about faith

and his dad was in the military

and his dad wasn't very religious.

And his dad said,

what's the deal

with all this Christian stuff?

I mean,

what are you saying

I need to do

to become a Christian?

I mean,

I've heard people talk about

accepting Jesus into your heart.

I just don't get

what that means.

His son said,

Dad,

let me put it this way.

If you want to become

a Christian,

you need to swear

allegiance to Jesus.

In other words,

bow your knee before him

and confess that he is Lord.

And it made sense.

Maybe that's what

you need to do tonight

to acknowledge Jesus

as the rightful Lord

and the Savior.

You know,

the wonderful promise

in the Bible

is that anyone who does

swear allegiance to Jesus

as Lord and Savior

is forgiven of their sins

and filled with the Holy Spirit

and called to be a part

of God's mission

to restore and renew

the world

under Jesus' Lordship.

In other words,

through the good news,

through what Jesus has done,

we're called into

God's new construction project.

The centerpiece of his plan

to restore and renew the world.

If you want to carry

the analogy on,

God the Father

is the architect

who in his eternal wisdom

has laid out

the perfect plan.

Jesus Christ

is the federal,

state,

and local governments

all combined

in one person

who is the one

supreme authority

but also

the one who's paid

the entire cost

through his faithful obedience,

through his death

and resurrection.

And we

are the construction workers

who have the great privilege

and responsibility

of being part of God's plan

to restore and renew

the world

under the Lordship

of Jesus.

It's a high

and holy calling.

That's what the church

is meant to be,

the visible demonstration

of what Jesus has done

in his death

and resurrection.

A people who

proclaim this message

and are defined

by this message

and go into the world

with this message

and a people

whose lives

are gradually

being shaped

and transformed

and changed

by this message

of Jesus

who humbled himself

to the point of death

and was raised

to life

as Savior

and Lord.

So that's why

the church is necessary

because it's a visible

demonstration

of the gospel

of Jesus Christ.

That's why Paul says

in verse 12,

therefore,

at the beginning

of this section,

everything comes back

to this gospel

of Jesus

that shapes

what we do.

So that's why

the church is necessary.

It's a visible demonstration

of the gospel.

But second,

if building the church

is necessary

and it's what God

has always intended to do,

why is it so hard?

Maybe you can relate to this.

Maybe you've been

part of churches

that have had

lots of struggles.

Maybe you stopped

going to church

for a while

because you got fed up

with it.

Or you felt like

maybe it's not worth it.

Why is building

the church so hard?

Well, Paul acknowledges

that's hard.

In verse 12,

he says,

work out your salvation

with fear and trembling.

Now, notice,

he doesn't say

work for your salvation.

That's not possible.

Salvation is a gift

from God

by grace alone.

But he does say

work out

or live out

the salvation

that you have

in Jesus

with fear and trembling,

with reverent awe

and godly fear.

In other words,

living out the gospel

or working out

the implications

of your salvation

is not an easy task.

If you've ever worked

on designing

a skyscraper

or constructing a bridge

or even just

building a house

or even just

repairing a room,

it's a complicated project

with all kinds

of potential pitfalls.

Sometimes lives

are at stake.

It's a challenge.

And Paul acknowledges

that living out

the gospel

is not easy.

And he points

to two particular

challenges

that we face

in building

God's church.

First of all,

in verse 14,

he says,

do all things

without grumbling

or disputing.

You know,

that's been

one of the most

difficult parts

of this whole bridge

project that has

caused years of delays

is that the state

government,

the local government,

the construction company

just haven't been able

to agree sometimes.

It's taken a long time.

And one of the biggest

challenges

that we face

in the church

is the same thing.

Grumbling

and disputing.

It's the pitfall

that the people

of Israel

fell into

when they walked

through the desert

after God

had saved them

out of Egypt

in the Old Testament.

And it's the same

words that are used

in the Old Testament.

They were grumbling

or complaining

against Moses

and disputing

or accusing

God

of not caring

about them

and wanting

to accuse

God of

doing them wrong.

And Paul says

don't fall into

the same trap

that they did.

And sometimes

we need to hear

this reminder

sometimes over

and over.

Sometimes I've even

quoted this verse

to my kids.

But you know

I imagine

I'll have to

either quote it

or convey

the same idea

over and over

and over again.

And you know what?

I need to hear

this verse

over and over

and over again.

Just yesterday

I failed.

I did the exact

opposite

with my wife.

I was a

contentious

complainer.

Back in chapter 2

verses 1 through 4

Paul calls us

to humility.

He says

preferring one another

above ourselves.

Seeking not only

our own interests

but also those

of others.

You know

this can be

I mean

it's very

simple.

There's no

theological debate

about what this

verse means.

Do everything

without arguing

or disputing

or however

it translates it.

Grumbling or disputing.

It's very simple

but it's hard

to put into practice.

And that's why

Paul returns

to this theme

so often

and reminds us

of what Christ

did in humbling

himself

and sacrificing

himself

for us

and saying

that very

same mind

that was in

Christ Jesus

let that be

in you

by the power

of the Holy Spirit.

So that's the

first challenge

we face

is

disunity

grumbling

and disputing.

The second

challenge we face

is transitions.

Now for the

church in Philippi

Paul had been

the major leader

who had begun

the process

of building

the church

and in one sense

for a time

it might have

seemed like

Paul was the

one who was

holding this

together.

He was sort of

like the head

of the construction

firm that got

the project

going.

But in this

passage Paul

reminds them

in a couple

places

I won't be

around forever.

In verse 12

he says

not only as in

my presence

but much more

in my absence.

He refers to

him being

absent from

them.

And in 17

and 18

he actually

talks about

the possibility

of his own

death.

In fact

it's the

inevitability

it's only a

question of

when not

if.

Paul says

I'm not

going to be

here with

you forever.

I'm not

going to hold

you guys

together.

But whether

or not I'm

here the

calling of

God on

your life

hasn't

changed.

that's why

he says

work out

your own

salvation.

It's not

me

who's going

to hold

everything

together.

I was

given

authority

from God

to care

for you

and oversee

you but I'm

not the

ultimate

overseer of

this project.

I'm not

going to

carry this

work from

beginning to

end.

Only God

is.

You know

sometimes this

can be hard

if there's a

leader that you

respect or a

Christian mentor

or a friend

that you look

up to who's

invested in

you and for

whatever reason

they move

on or maybe

they pass

away or

maybe you

have to move

somewhere else

and they're not

part of your

life anymore.

And maybe you

come to a new

church and you

haven't as hard

to feel as hard

to connect with

people and you

feel like I

don't know if

it's going to be

what it was.

And Paul

encourages them

I'm not the

one who

started this

project.

God is the

one who

started this

project and

God is the

one who's

going to

carry it to

the finish.

It's hard

to build

the church

of God.

We have to

face the

challenge of

the temptation

to disunity

and we have to

face the

challenge of

transition.

But Paul

says in the

end, Paul

says it's all

worth it.

It's

necessary, it's

hard, but in

the end, it's

worth it.

Verse 13, he

says it is God

who works in

you, both to

will and to

work for his

good pleasure.

God the

Father made the

plan from

eternity past.

Jesus Christ

paid the cost

and we are the

workers, but

that's not it.

God the

Holy Spirit

dwells in

us and

empowers us

to get the

job done.

And when

Jesus left

and went

back to

heaven, he

didn't just

leave it up

to us.

He didn't

just say,

over to

you, you

all can

figure it

out.

He sent

the Holy

Spirit to

be another

comforter,

another helper,

just like Jesus

had been with

his own

disciples,

carrying them

through,

watching over

them, reminding

them of the

truth.

And he sent

the Holy

Spirit into

our lives to

do just

that.

Philippians

Philippians 1:6

1, verse 6

says, he who

began a good

work in you

and among you

will bring it

to completion

at the day of

Jesus Christ.

What God has

started, he's

going to finish.

And even

if it's in a

work in

progress now,

God's not

going to let

it go.

And that's a

word of

encouragement to

us, that what

God has started

in your life,

by bringing

you to Jesus,

by drawing you

near to Jesus,

he's going to

continue and

carry on.

And he's

faithful to

his promise.

You know,

just like Paul,

we live in a

crooked and

twisted generation.

We live in a

city that's

divided by

mistrust between

people of

different races

and different

political ideas

and different

education levels.

We live in a

society that

increasingly lacks

a foundation for

clear moral

guidance.

We live in a

world that's

broken and

messed up.

And in the

midst of this

world, God has

called us to be a

people who shine

as lights in

the world.

That word can be

translated like

stars in the

sky.

You know, do you

remember long

ago when God

talked to Abraham

and he brought

him outside on a

clear night and

he said, look up

at the sky and

see if you can

count the stars.

And that's how

many children,

descendants,

offspring, that's

how many children

I'm going to make

out of you.

That's how big

your family is

going to grow.

And he wasn't

just talking about

Abraham's physical

descendants, right?

Because Abraham's

descendant was

Jesus Christ.

And Jesus Christ

says, anyone who

believes in me

becomes a child of

God, a part of

God's family.

And so Paul's

saying, this is

what God's doing

in the church.

As he's fulfilling

the promise to

Abraham, a people

likes the stars in

the sky.

But you know, also

in the ancient

world, we don't

think of it as much

today, because we

have GPSs and all

kinds of other

navigational tools,

but if you were a

sailor and you were

lost at sea, you

look up at the

stars, and the stars

show you where to

go.

Because the stars

don't change,

they're low, well

the stars, I

understand there's

orbits and all that

stuff, but basically

the stars stay put.

They don't switch

their formation

around.

They reliably point

you in the right

direction.

And Paul's saying

that's what the

church is called to

be, a people who

stand firm, and who

can light the way, and

who can show the way

to a world that's

lost, and who can

point the way back

to God through

Jesus Christ.

We're called to be

God's new

construction project,

a living demonstration

of the gospel, a

living demonstration

in the present of

what God's glorious

kingdom will look like

in the future.

A thing of beauty

shining in a dark

world, and a solid

pathway.

That's God's vision

for his church.

Now I know, we're

still a work in

progress.

If you were around

here ten years ago,

do you remember what

the new Q

Bridge looked like?

It looked like a few

big mounds of dirt

that they were, for

some reason, they

started by making

these big huge

mounds of dirt in

the middle of Route

34 and some other

highways.

And you look at them

and you're like, what

in the world is going

on?

There's these big

piles of dirt.

But actually now,

that's where the new

exit ramps are going

on.

Right?

Or even if you

remember five years

ago, you know,

it's a long process

to get this

construction work

done.

And you know, as a

church, we're a work

in progress.

We're not the finished

product.

Okay?

If you're hoping for a

perfect church, we're

not it.

And you know what?

If we were perfect, you

would spoil it anyway.

But we are a church

that's a work in

progress.

For the glory of God.

I want to end by

sharing a story about

God's work in this

particular church.

I shared it this

morning, so if you're

here this morning, you

hear it twice.

But it fits with this

passage tonight.

And I hope it encourages

you as we conclude.

So 15 years ago this

fall, Trinity Baptist

Church had 20 members

and no pastors and no

building to meet in.

We're renting a space.

The church has existed

since the 70s, but it

had gone through a

split in the mid-90s

and it had barely

survived.

And so the members

thought, you know

what?

We've tried to make

this work.

We've given it what we

can, but maybe it's

just time to close

down.

And so they called a

meeting.

The church council

called a meeting to

discuss how to

gracefully close the

doors.

Well, at 1030 that

morning, October 12 of

1999, the wife of the

chairman of the church

council got a phone call

from her neighbor.

Said, are you guys

still looking for a

pastor?

She said, well, I

guess so.

He said, well, we

interviewed this

candidate at our

church and he wasn't

quite the right fit for

our church, but we

think he's a great

candidate and we think

that you should

consider calling,

inviting him to be

your pastor.

Well, the church

council decided to

change their agenda

that evening from

deciding how to close

down to deciding how

to call a new pastor

and get him over

here from the UK,

from another country.

Right?

And most of the

church members had

never met him in

person.

Well, we'll probably

never call a pastor

in quite the same way

again.

But that was the

first step in what's

in an amazing work of

God, to restore and

renew this church so

that we can hold fast

to the word of life

and hold out the word

of life to the city

of New Haven.

You know, God has

been faithful to us

in the past and he's

begun a good work

among us and he

promises to continue

that work.

So brothers and

sisters, let us work

out our salvation with

fear and trembling,

knowing that it is God

who works in and among

us.

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for

this glorious calling

that you've set before

us to be lights in the

world, to be like stars

in the sky, pointing the

way to life, holding fast

to your word.

Lord, you know the

challenges that we face,

you know the challenges

that each of us face.

Lord, you know the ways

that we can become

discouraged.

We pray that you would

encourage us by the

power of your Holy

Spirit.

Lord, that you have

called us into fellowship

with each other and with

you and you're going to

continue the good work

that you've begun and

bring it to completion.

Give us that great

assurance and Lord, may

that strengthen us to

walk faithfully with you

each day.

In Christ's name we

pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.