Philippians, Work Hard to Shine Bright - Php 2:12-18

Please start turning to Philippians chapter two. That is where

we're at today. We're gonna continue our series called Philippians,

Gospel Perseverance Through Gospel Partnership. Gospel Perseverance Through Gospel Partnership.

If you don't have a Bible and you need one,

Gabe has them right there in the back of the room.

Wave him down and he will run you one because

we want you to have God's word in your hands

at all times. But this book of Philippians is Paul's

letter to the church in Philippi. And it's a letter

that's full of joy, rejoicing, and gratitude, which is clear

if you just read the whole thing. But it's all

over this partnership that he shares with them in gospel work.

It's this mutual partnership that they have that is encouraging

them to stand firm in the faith. And our hope

in this series is that we would see how crucial

and how critical gospel partnership is to our own perseverance

in the faith. God uses our partnership with our brothers

and sisters in Christ to to help keep us on

this narrow path that leads to life. There's only two paths, right?

The wide path that leads to destruction, the narrow path

that leads to life. But our hope is that we

would see the love and care that Paul and the

Philippians have for each other, to see their partnership in

gospel work and these gospel efforts that they're doing and

how it encourages them to live their whole life in

such a way to be worthy of the gospel of Jesus.

And we want that to encourage us to do the

exact same thing, To partner in gospel work together and

to persevere in the gospel together. There's a lot of

together in this because we don't want to do this alone.

We're not supposed to do it alone. We never were

meant to do it alone. But to do this all together.

So today we're going to be in Philippians chapter 2

Philippians 2:12–18

verses 12 through 18. And if you're able, would you

please stand with me as we read our text for today.

And we stand ready to receive and ready to respond

to God's word. Philippians chapter two, starting in verse 12. Therefore,

my beloved, as you've always obeyed, so now not only

is in my presence, but 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 work for his good pleasure. Do all things

without grumbling or disputing that you may be blameless and innocent,

children of God without blemish in the midst of sin.

Let's pray. God, we thank you for your word. God,

we set aside any distractions that might be in us,

in our minds or in our hearts. We set them

aside right now so we can focus solely on your

word to your people today. God, give us the strength

to receive it, God, and to put it into practice,

to know how to apply your word to our lives daily. God,

we thank you that you've given us the freedom to

gather together to worship you and study your word. And

so God, give us ears to hear what you'd have

us hear today. We thank you for all this and

give you all the glory. In Jesus' name, everyone said.

Amen.

You may be seated. I call today's message, work hard

to shine bright. Work hard to shine bright. Who here

has ever built a campfire before? Most of us have probably,

you know, if we haven't built one ourselves, we've helped

build a campfire. You only need three things to build

a campfire. You need oxygen, fuel, and heat. That's it.

That's any fire. Not just campfires, but any fire. You

only need those three things. And campfires are great, right?

We could gather around them. They're good for warmth, to

keep us warm when it's cold. It's a little, feeling

like a little crisp in the air, fall today. Campfire

would be nice. Keeps us warm. And also when it's dark,

it gives us light so we can see. But we

all know the best thing about campfires is what?

S'mores.

Clearly. Clearly that is the best part of campfires. S'mores,

because we want to eat those tasty treats. But campfires

are great, but they're not complex. They only take the

three things to be made, oxygen, fuel, and heat. So

you have to put, even though it's not complex, you

have to put in the work though, right? You have

to put in the work to gather the fuel, which

is the woods. You're going to go out and gather sticks,

or maybe you're going to cut them yourselves, or maybe

you're going to cheat and go buy a stack of

wood from the store. It's cheating. You got to gather

your own wood. You gather your fuel, you have to

make sure that it has sufficient oxygen so there's good airflow.

So you're gonna set up the wood in such a

way that you have good airflow. And then you have

to introduce heat. Maybe we use a match. Or you

do it the manly way and use a flint, right?

Or you do it the caveman way and you rub

sticks together for a really long time, right? But you

have to introduce heat. So it's just those three things.

It's not very complex, but it does take some work.

Now what is my point? Why am I talking about campfires? Well,

my point is that the point that Paul is making

is just like a campfire takes hard work to build,

for us as believers, it takes hard work to shine bright.

It takes hard work to shine bright. You're gonna see

that Paul tells us that there is work to be

done in our walk with Jesus. We just read the text.

There's clearly work that he's telling us that we need

to do. And then he's gonna tell us that part

of this work is for the purpose of being lights

in the world. And then he finishes saying, by talking

about the joy that comes from our perseverance and the faith.

It takes hard work to shine bright. And this is

work that is God-enabled, of course. All this work that

we do, it is God-enabled. God is the one who

lit the fire inside you. He started it. He started

this fire in you. He called you out of darkness

into light. So any of this work to shine bright

is God-enabled, but it is work nonetheless. Can't get away

from that. There is a responsibility that we have in

our growth in the Lord. We have things that we

need to do. But in order to not misunderstand what

Paul is saying here, or I think the implications that

kind of can be construed from what he's saying, is

we have to remember who Paul's talking to. You guys

remember who he's talking to? Flip back a page in

your Bible and go to the first verse of Philippians.

Philippians 1, 1. Paul and Timothy, servants... Christ Jesus to

all the what? To all the saints in Christ Jesus

who are at Philippi with the overseers and deacons. So

this whole letter is addressed to the saints in Christ

Jesus or the Christians who are at Philippi. This letter

isn't addressed to non-believers. It's very crucial for us to understand.

So nothing that he says should ever be confused with

a message to non-believers. And the reason why this is

so important for us to remember is because if we don't,

we actually will run the risk of thinking that Paul

is telling non-believers that there is a way to be

saved through works. And we know that is not true

because we've read other parts of the Bible. There is

no works that can get you saved. This is not

a message telling people that they can achieve salvation by

works as much as it's going to talk about works

in our text today. This is not a message saying,

that you can achieve salvation by works. It's a message

from Paul to believers telling them how to live before

God and how to live before others. So as Paul

starts our text today, talking to his beloved, we know

that he's talking to the believers in Philippi that he

dearly loves. Look at verse 12, therefore, my beloved, and

anytime that The text starts with therefore. There's a very

important question we all need to ask. You guys know

what it is? What's the therefore, therefore? What's the therefore, therefore?

Paul just finished telling the believers to have the same

mind as Christ. That's what we just finished reading. To

humble ourselves before each other, that the same humility that

Christ modeled is our path to unity with one another.

Pastor Duncan called it Christian Relationships 101. And that is

literally so true. If we could just get this humility

thing figured out, then it would solve pretty much all

of our relationship or interpersonal problems that we have. If

we could figure out this humility thing. But since we

are called to imitate the humble model that Jesus gave

us and knowing that God exalts or lifts up the humble,

Paul calls the dearly beloved believers to get to work.

So understanding what Paul just said, he now says it's

time to get to work. Therefore, my beloved, as you

have always obeyed, you've always listened to me before. So

now not only is in my presence, but much more

in my absence. I want you to do this, not

just when I'm around, even more so when I'm not around.

And we all know that watched behavior is changed behavior.

If you don't believe me, when you're driving down the freeway,

And you see a cop on the shoulder. What's the

first thing you do? You look down at how fast

you're driving. You're like, am I speeding? Watched behavior is

changed behavior. Paul is saying that even if I'm not

there to watch you, make sure to do this. I

want you to do this. Obey me in this. Well,

I want you to do what? What's Paul asking? Work

out your own salvation with fear and trembling for his

God who works in you both to will and to

work for his good pleasure. And right here, Paul is

actually plainly stating one of the most, I think one

of the most interesting tensions we feel in our own

Christian walk. What does it mean to work out our

own salvation? What is working out our salvation? It's the

basic process of sanctification. We've been saved by the amazing

and undeserved grace of God, and we are being transformed

from one degree to another into what? The image of Jesus. Jesus.

God's goal in our salvation is to make us into

the image of Jesus. Jesus is the perfect picture of

what humanity was supposed to look like. He is what

we're being transformed into. He's what we will be when

we are glorified with Jesus. The image of Jesus, that

is God's goal in our salvation. And this is what

the sanctification process is, the process by which we are

set apart and grow more into the image of Jesus.

So the work to be done is whatever it takes

to make us more like Jesus. I'm going to say

that again. The work to be done is whatever it

takes to make us more like Jesus. Looking like him,

acting like him, thinking like him, all of it. But

here's the tension. Who's doing the work, us or God?

Yes.

The answer is yes. Yes. This is the tension. Remember,

this is a message from Paul to believers who are

already saved. So they're not working for their salvation, but

it's the work that is produced out of their salvation.

Paul wants us to work out our salvation because God

is the one at work in us. That word for, because,

a transitional word. What verse are we talking about.

Here?

Verse 13 starts with the word for salvation. So it's

because or for God working in us that he wants

us to work out our salvation. And the illustration I

think of is if you're going to the gym, you

already have a body. Now go work it out. You've

already got the body. So we go to the gym

to go work it out. You've already received your salvation

through faith in Jesus. Now go work it out. Go

do things. Work to produce the fruit of a Christian.

That's what we're supposed to do. It's God who started

the work in us. It's God who changed our desires

and our wills, our nature. It's God who made it

all possible for us to obey him. Now we need

to live a life that produces the fruit of that,

all of that. So we have some work to do,

don't we? We really do. The right response from us

to God's work in us is to work hard, to

strive hard, to work out or work at our own salvation.

And it makes me think of Romans chapter 12. It'll

Romans 12 · chapter mention

be on the screen. You don't have to turn there.

But the first verse says, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers,

by the mercies of God or in view of God's

mercy to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy

and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Or

other translations say rational service. The right response. The rational,

reasonable response to God's mercy, to his work in us,

is to offer our whole self to him. That's rational.

That's reasonable. That makes sense. The math maths. That's how

we should be responding. And Paul says in our text,

as we respond that way, we should do it with

fear and trembling. Fear and trembling. Wait, so like shaking, scared? Scared?

That's how we're supposed to work out our salvation. But

what are we afraid of? What are we afraid of?

What are we shaking and trembling for? And you really

have to pay attention to the context of these verses

in order to understand what Paul's really getting at. So

it's God who's at work in us. So the fear

that we should have is the anxiety of one who

distrusts his ability completely to meet all requirements, but religiously

does his utmost to To fulfill his duty. Let me

read that again. It's the anxiety of one who distrusts

his ability completely to meet all requirements, but religiously does

his utmost to fulfill his duty. That's literally the definition

of the Greek word that's used for tremble here. The

contextual definition. To know that you can't do it in

your own strength. To literally know it's not up to you.

But understanding that we can't do in our own strength

pushes us to cling to Jesus all the more in

my attempts. I'm shaking in my boots knowing that I

can't do this in my own power. Fear and trembling

should lead us to a complete dependence on God's work

in us. Again, not to lose your salvation. Speaking to

believers here. We have work to do as believers. But

that we would know that our working out our salvation,

our humble obedience... and is all dependent upon God's work

in us. So I need us to remember that when

we work out our salvation, it is initiated by and

fully dependent on God's work. So as we're living out

our Christian life, as we're walking this salvation out, it

is initiated by and fully dependent on God's work. Now

that'll keep you humble. Because we're supposed to have the

mind of Christ to humbly submit to him under his

mighty hand. But is that how we approach working out

our salvation? Is that how we approach it? Do I

fear and tremble at my own ability to walk in

obedience to the Lord? Most of the time, I don't have, like,

if God's really revealed who he is to you and

revealed your station, it's not hard for me to say,

you got sin. And everyone's like, yes, I do. that

we do not follow the Lord perfectly. We understand when

Paul says, there's things I do that I don't want

to do. And the things I don't want to do

is the things I do, right? He's going in the

circle of like, I don't get it. What wretched man

that I am. Like we understand that. But what does

that push us toward in how we work out our salvation?

Does it push us towards a greater, deeper dependence upon

Jesus or not? That's what it should push us towards.

This more earnest effort that clings to Jesus as literally

my only hope. I was trying to think through illustrations

to help this make sense in my own head so

I could help explain it to you guys. And the

one that came to mind was I think the way

that we're supposed to work out our salvation is the

same way a skydiver thinks of his parachute. Parachute is

what's keeping him floating, right? He's not keeping himself floating,

but he still has a job to do. He's got

to stay connected to that parachute. Because if you're not

connected to the parachute, what happens to the skydiver? Did

you whistle at the same time? This is my son.

We whistled at the same time. That's crazy. That's what happens.

So the skydiver has a job to do. He's got

to stay connected to the parachute. The parachute does him

no good if he lets go of it. I know

you're in a rig, so it's not like he just

let go of the parachute. I understand how it works.

But God is the one who's transforming us into the

image of Jesus. But we need to do our work

of clinging to him as we walk out looking more

like him. So Paul wants the Philippians to continue to

obey in working out their salvation with fear and trembling.

But he also goes into this next part. He wants

them to obey in being lights that shine bright in

the dark world. And he's going to give them some

instructions on how to do that. So look at verse 14.

Do all things. Say all things. Without grumbling or disputing.

It means don't complain or argue. I mean, how many

of us are instantly convicted just in that part of

the verse alone? I mean, I'm definitely known to complain

and argue a little bit. But Paul says to do

all things. And I can't stress this enough. How many things?

All of them. Do all things without grumbling or disputing.

So this week, some of us might have some repenting

to do to the Lord. I'm sorry, Lord, that I've

been a complainer, that I've been an arguer. I'm sorry.

But why, Paul, why are you telling us this? So that,

verse 15, that you may be blameless and innocent, children

of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked

and twisted generation. Are we in the midst of a

crooked and twisted generation? Yeah, that didn't change much from

Bible times, did it? But among whom, this crooked and

twisted generation, among them, you shine as lights in the world.

So that we are children of God without blemish, who

shine as lights in the world. This is the why

that Paul's giving for our obedience to what he's saying.

It's for our witness to the world. We may live

in this world, but we are not of this world.

Our home is heaven. Not here. We already read Romans 12, 1,

but the next verse in there, it'll be on the screen, says,

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed

by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you

may discern what is the will of God, what is

good and acceptable and perfect. We aren't supposed to look

like the world. The world grumbles.

The world disputes.

The world disputes. The world complains. The world argues. You

don't believe me? Go on social media for literally two seconds.

That's what the world does. And Christians are not supposed

to look like that. That's not what Christians do. Christians

are supposed to look like who? Christ.

Christ.

The word Christian literally means Christ-like. That's what it means.

Christians should look like Christ. It's hard work to not complain.

It's hard work to not argue. It's a lot of

dying to self. It's a lot of, it's hard work

to deny yourself. Your flesh does not want you to

do it. I love the verse that says, has crucified

its flesh with its passions and desires. It's in like

Galatians 6, I think. Someone audit me on that. I

don't know anyone other than Jesus who's allowed himself to

be nailed to a cross. And we're supposed to crucify

our own flesh with its sinful desires, our passions and desires.

That means we got to hold that baby down there

and start nailing. That's hard work. It's hard work to

do that, but it's work that must be done. Because

Christians are supposed to look like Christ. I want you

to hold your place in Philippians. and turn to Matthew

chapter five. And this is in the Sermon on the

Mount when Jesus is speaking to all the crowds. It's

hard work to shine bright. This is what Christians are

called to do. You guys there? Chapter 5, starting in

verse 14. You are the light of the world. You

are the light of the world. A city set on

a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a

lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand.

And it gives light to all in the house. In

the same way. Say, in the same way. Let your

light shine before others. so that they may see your

good works and give glory to your Father who is

in heaven. Paul is just echoing what Jesus is saying here.

That's what Paul's doing. He's saying what Jesus said. As believers,

this is what we're supposed to be, lights that shine

before others. That's what we're supposed to be. Being a

Christian was never meant to be a secret. I think

the biggest slap in the face a Christian should ever

feel is someone's like, oh, I didn't know you were

a Christian. That should be like, oh man, I failed it.

If someone's like, I didn't know you were a Christian,

that's the worst thing we should ever hear. It's not

supposed to be a secret. This is supposed to be

on display. As lights in the world, we are meant

to shine before others. Why? So they would see us

and give glory to God. That our good deeds and

our obedience to to everything that the Lord has commanded us,

should be seen by others. And it would lead people

to give glory to God. We are a witness to

the world. They will see us and see our love

for one another and know we are disciples of who?

Of Jesus, because of that. We are lights in the world.

This little light of mine.

I'm gonna let it shine, this little light of mine.

I'm gonna let it shine, this little light of mine.

Come on, you know it.

I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine,

let it shine.

Won't hide it under a bush. Oh no, just, we're

not gonna keep going. You guys get it though, right?

Kids' songs are like, oh, they're simple, they're cute. They're true, right?

We literally are lights meant to shine and we got

to let it shine, baby. Yeah. And as we shine

our little light, what are we illuminating? What are we reflecting?

We are illuminating the true light of the world. Look

at John one. It's going to be on the screen.

In the beginning was the word and the word was

with God. And the word was God, not a God

was God. He was in the beginning with God. All

things were made through him, and without him was not

anything made that was made. In him was life, and

the life was the light of men. The light shines

in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John.

He came as a witness to bear witness about the

light that all might believe through him. He was not

the light, but came to bear witness about the light

and this is the crucial part here, the true light

which gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

He was in the world and the world was made

through him, yet the world did not know him. He

came to his own and his own people did not

receive him, but to all who did receive him, who

believed in his name, he gave the right to become

children of God who were born not of blood, nor

of the will of the flesh, nor of the will

of man, but of God. a true light, which gives

light to everyone. Who is this talking about? Jesus. This

is talking about Jesus, the word who became flesh and

dwelt among us. Jesus is the light of the world

and all who receive him. Everyone who believes in him,

they are given the right to become children of God.

This is the greatest benefit blessing ever imaginable, ever to exist,

to be called a child of God. And Jesus confirms

it himself about him being the light seven chapters later.

Just look at John chapter eight on the screen in

verse 12. It says, again, Jesus spoke to them saying,

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me

will not walk in darkness, but we'll have the light

of life. Jesus is the light of the world. As

we are lights meant to shine in the world, we

are trying to imitate the true light of Jesus. We

are trying to show the world Jesus. When our little

light shines, that's what we're doing. Because there is no

other light. Without Jesus, we are wandering in the dark.

We are lost. We are hopeless. We are still in

our sins with only eternal torment to look forward to.

But with Jesus, with him, the true light of the world.

We walk in light. We will have the light of life.

We have forgiveness of sins. We are made right with

God the Father. And we have eternal life and paradise

with him in our future. Can I get an amen?

Can I have the worship team come up, please? So

Paul tells the Philippians, work out your salvation. You got

some work to do. He says to be a light

that shines in the world. And this last section, he says,

make me proud by continuing to hold fast to Jesus.

Let's keep reading in verse 16. Back in chapter 2

of Philippians. Hopefully you're holding your spot. Verse 16, holding

fast to the word of life. So that in the

day of Christ, so when Jesus returns to judge the

living and the dead. In that day, I, Paul, may

be proud that I did not run in vain. or

labor in vain. Even if I'm to be poured out

as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith,

I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise, you

also should be glad and rejoice with me. And you know,

as a pastor, I feel this. I understand what Paul's

talking about here. He doesn't want his work to be

for nothing. All of his labor and toil to lead

and teach and to shepherd the people He's working hard

to plead with the people to hold fast to Jesus.

And if they were to let go, then all his

works for nothing. So as a pastor, as one of

your pastors, if any of you were to come to

me and say, you're walking away from Jesus, there is

nothing that would break my heart more. That would be

literally the worst thing I could ever hear from one

of you guys. I want you to hold fast to

Jesus always and forever.

Forever.

All the time spent praying for you, studying to preach,

which by the way, real talk, this for some reason

was one of the hardest messages to put together. I

was just wrestling through it all week. But all the work,

all the efforts put into lovingly shepherding you guys, if

you were to stop holding fast to Jesus, it would

feel like I just wasted my life. I think it's

the very human thing Paul is saying here. He's sharing

his just emotions and feelings about the thing. But just

to help you guys kind of like empathize maybe with

the feeling, I want you to think about your own kids. Blood, sweat,

and tears go into raising them in the Lord. And

then one day they look you straight in your face

and they say, I don't believe in Jesus. Your vision

goes a little blurry. The room goes silent. Time slows down.

The world just seems to melt all around you. You

feel sick to your stomach. You don't know whether to

scream or cry or nervously laugh, hoping that they're just

telling some stupid sick joke. That feeling right there was

all the work in vain. Was it all for nothing?

That's the feeling I'm talking about. I think that's the

feeling Paul's trying to help us see. Now, I'm trusting

in God that every single one of you is going

to hold fast to Jesus. And I do believe that

God holds us firm to the end, that we are

safe in his hands. But I understand what Paul is

saying here. And he says, even if I'm poured out

as a drink offering, and to help us understand that,

it's like the wine that they would pour out when

offering sacrifices on the altar. When you pour out a

drink offering, it's poured out and spent. It's gone. You

don't get it back. It's gone. But even if I,

Paul's saying, even if I'm poured out as a drink

offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, meaning if

you having faith in Jesus means it costs me everything,

then I will rejoice. Then I will be glad and

I will rejoice with you and you should rejoice with me.

That's a big thing for Paul to say. That's the

whole reason Paul is laboring so hard. The whole reason

Paul is working so hard to shine bright. He wants

his beloved brothers and sisters in Christ to continue to

hold fast and cling to Jesus, to join him in

shining bright for all the world to see, to join

him in working out their salvation in fear and trembling.

Paul is having the mind of Christ when he says

this to the Philippians. We talked about it last week.

Look at Chapter 2, verses 5 through 7. It should

be on the same page you're on in your Bible.

Have this in mind among yourselves, which is yours in

Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God,

did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.

But what? Emptied himself by taking the form of a servant.

Emptied himself, poured himself out. By taking the form of

a servant, being born in the likeness of men, As

Jesus emptied himself to serve, Paul is pouring himself out

to serve. It's what he's doing. He's having the mind

of Christ. It's hard work to shine bright, but that's

what we need to do. We need to work hard

to shine bright. So I think today's message, although there's

There are a few, I think, very specific application things

we could pull from the text. I think it's less

about like, hey, do these things, like steps one, two,

and three. I think it's a little bit less about that,

and it's more about the way in which we would

go about doing all things. So this is like maybe

a challenge of the motives, challenge of the feelings and

the affections of the heart when we talk about this.

When we think about working at our salvation, how seriously

do we take it? It's God working in you to

work into will for his good pleasure. How serious do

you take your part in that, your work in that?

In what ways are we relying on the Lord to

do this work in us? Are we clinging to him

as we work out our own salvation like a skydiver

clings to his parachute? Do we see our Christian life,

our conduct, and our behavior differently as God's light in

the dark world? I don't think we always do. We

think like, oh, who am I? You know, what do

my actions affect? What do they do? Are we serious

about being the salt of the earth, the light of

the world? Are we persevering in our faith in a

way that lets our shepherds be proud they poured out

their lives? So to sum it all up, when it

comes to our Christian walk, do we actually work hard

or do we just kind of work? Do we labor

and toil to become Christ-like or do we only do

what's convenient? Do we strive with eager efforts in our

pursuit of holiness and sanctification or do we only do

what works with our schedule? Or when it doesn't compete

with the other things I want to do? These are

really hard questions to contemplate. I need you all to

know I'm asking myself the same questions too. Like I'm

wrestling over these too. They're not easy. It takes hard

work to shine bright. But that is what we are

called to do. To work hard and shine bright.

Amen? Amen.

Can you guys stand to your feet, please?