Philippians Ch2v12-18

Brian with us. If you're not familiar with Munster Bible College, it's a wonderful opportunity

just to hear from God's Word, to learn from God's Word. And we're very privileged here

in Cork to have such learned men come. When you look at the biographies of people coming

each year, we read of professors, of people who have books published,

people who have spent years and years learning about the Word of God. And when you think and

read all this, you think, wow, they must be so amazing to have all this knowledge. And they are.

And yet, one thing that I've been amazed at in meeting the lecturers, when you meet them,

you're meeting men of God, men who in humility come to us to share with us. You don't know

that, you don't realize, wow, I'm speaking to a professor, somebody's read books, because there

are men who just have a heart for the Lord, who want to speak of the Lord and teach others.

And it's a privilege to be able to do that. It's been wonderful to have Brian. I've enjoyed

his classes, his master classes. And Brian, can I just pray with you as you come now to

preach to us?

Father, I do thank you for Brian. Thank you for all his years of learning, for all that you have

shown him in your Word. I thank you for his humility, his desire to share your Word with

others. And I thank you that even as he has been reading your Word and learning, that you have been

changing him to become more like his Saviour. I pray indeed, as we open up your Word, as we read

these words from Paul to the Philippians, I pray indeed our desire would be to learn, to grow,

where there is correction, that we'd be willing to be disciplined, where there is encouragement,

that we would be encouraged, where there are things that we need to learn or be reminded of,

indeed, that we would be changed by your Spirit, that you would change us to be more like your Saviour,

and that when we go from here, we will be people who have such a heart for you, a desire to

serve you, and to obey you. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you, Brian.

I feel like I'm going to knock it out there. Yes, that looks a little better.

Good morning, everyone. It's great to be here. This is actually my fourth time. I think I've preached

one time or two times, but it's my fourth time across three of those for the college, and then

one time for a summer Bible week. And so it's really a delight for us to be here, and I know

so many of you now by name, having come since, I think, 2016 or something like that was my first

year, but whatever the case. Yeah, Jonathan mentioned books. I mean, the trick of writing a book,

there's only one trick, and that is you just have to be able to sit down for a really long time,

and then it just happens, right? So it doesn't really require a lot of skill except for sitting.

What we're going to do today is look at a text of the Bible that we're all pretty familiar with, but

before we start, I just want to ask you a question, and I checked with Joy to see if this translates.

Have you ever seen this phrase, you buy something, maybe it's furniture or something for the kids,

and on it it's stamped, some assembly required. Do you know what I'm talking about? You have this,

right? So I googled some assembly required stories, because I can remember when Jamie was just a child,

Denise and I would have like a dollhouse or something, right? So it's Christmas Eve,

Jamie finally goes to bed, it's about 1 a.m., and we get this dollhouse out,

and it says some assembly required, and somewhere around 4 a.m. or something, it's basically together,

and there's a few pieces like, well, these probably don't need these because, man, it'll fit anywhere,

and we've spent hours and hours in doing it. I looked at a website in particular. I'm really interested in cycling,

and I spent a lot of time looking at bikes that I can't afford, and so I was looking at this website

where you can mail order these bikes, and then it says some assembly required, but they say

even a 12-year-old can put it together. So I have these videos of a 12-year-old taking these bikes out of these boxes

and putting them together. Apparently, if you're above 12, it's impossible, because all the people who

wrote comments said, the problem here is I'm in my 20s, I'm not 12, so I can't do this.

And so they showed this kid putting it together, but it's almost impossible, but it's got this big sign on it,

some assembly required.

I think sometimes when we think about our salvation, you hear a text like this,

work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

And it sort of sounds like some assembly required for your salvation, even though you know,

right, and you probably know and you probably affirm that we are saved by grace, through faith,

in Christ, apart from our works, right?

Everybody probably would stand up and say, yes, I affirm that.

And then we come to a text like, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, and we think,

that must be like the fine print, right?

So you get the contract, and like everything's free, and then you go down, and it's like the part that you skip over

and you don't really read at the bottom of a contract or like agreement, if you like,

some sort of agreement on your phone, like, do I agree?

Like, yeah, I guess I just agree. But you don't read the small print,

and then you don't read the small print when it comes to your salvation,

and then later you hear, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

And so we're going to look at this text.

We're going to look at this text from Philippians 2, 12 and 18.

But what I want to say is this.

When it comes to salvation, it is absolutely the opposite of some assembly required.

In fact, it is no assembly required.

Now, another way you can put that, though, is the opposite.

You could say all assembly required.

But what it means is God is the one who does all the assembling.

So it's not a case of God kind of gets us started,

and then like sort of maybe gives us some tools or something,

and then we just figure out the rest, right?

So we're going to look at this text.

But I think most of the time we're really familiar with part of this verse, right?

So if you're in Philippians 2, verse 12.

Philippians 2:12

Verse 12 is kind of a long verse, but we tend to only know like one phrase from it,

and that is work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

But it's a big, long verse.

And not only that, it's in the middle of a letter.

So if Paul wrote this letter to you, or let's put it this way.

Let's say like, so next week we go back to the States,

and then a couple weeks later you receive a letter from me.

Like, why has this guy written me a letter?

But it's like three pages long.

And that sounds depressing probably.

But let's just say you get this letter from me or an email,

and it just goes on for like three pages.

Even if you weren't excited about getting a letter from me,

there's one thing you would never do.

Well, I guess you might not read it at all.

But if you're going to read it, there's one thing you would never do.

You would never start like the third page.

Ever. Like never.

That would never cross your mind, right?

If you get an email from one another,

or you get communication from the church that has announcements or whatever,

or maybe a pastoral letter from Johnny,

you would never start at the end or in the middle.

But you would do the simple thing,

and that is you would start at the beginning,

and you would read all the way through the end.

And I think sometimes, especially with a verse like this,

that we all know really, really well,

work out your salvation with fear and trembling,

the question we should ask ourselves is,

what has Paul said up to this point?

Or has Paul said anything to us about how this might work?

Or has Paul said anything about salvation before here?

Because sometimes we just read like it's just that verse,

just sort of floating around,

and then we sort of talk about it and think about it,

which is okay to do, right?

But it's meant to be read.

It's meant to be read as though we started at the beginning.

Now, I'm not going to read all the Philippians to you,

but we'll just read 12 to 18 here.

Therefore, my dear friends,

as you have always obeyed,

not only in my presence,

but now much more in my absence,

continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,

for it is God who works in you

to will and to do or to act for his good purpose.

Do everything without grumbling or arguing,

so that you may be blameless and pure,

children of God without fault,

in a warped and crooked generation.

Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky

as you hold firmly to the word of life.

And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ

that I'm not run or labor in vain.

But even if I'm being poured out like a drink offering

on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith,

I am glad and rejoice with all of you.

So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

This is the word of the Lord.

So, the first thing that we need to understand

when we read this text is this.

It comes with a promise.

And the thing is, it's a promise we all know.

And we know it from this same book,

but it comes earlier.

Right?

So, when you read, when you read verse 12,

which we're going to talk about,

the thing is, by the time you would get to chapter 2,

verse 12, you would have already read this.

I thank my God every time I remember you,

in all my prayers for all of you,

I always pray with joy because of your partnership

in the gospel from the first day until now,

being confident of this,

that he who began a good work in you

will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ.

So, chapter 1, verse 6, has this promise.

So, Paul is totally confident,

he's absolutely confident

that God, who started the work in the Philippians,

is going to complete it.

Right?

He's already said this.

And notice he doesn't say,

I'm really confident

that this work that God started in you,

that you're going to complete it.

He says, I'm confident

that the one who, that is God,

the one who began a good work in you,

will complete it until the day of Jesus.

So, number one,

this command in chapter 2

comes with a promise

that Paul has already said,

and that is that God is the one

who is going to complete the work.

So, it's never, on your part or my part,

some assembly required.

Right?

It is all assembly required, actually,

but it's God who does all the assembling.

Because God is not calling us

to add to our salvation.

When he says, work out your salvation,

it's not like God has started his work in you,

and it's, you know,

it's kind of like,

it's like rough around the edges,

or it's sort of complete,

or he's kind of got you part of the way,

and he gets you like 90% of the way,

or even like 99% of the way.

And then he's just like,

now you kick your bit in,

and you put, you know,

I do my part,

and you throw in your part,

and finally, finally,

your salvation is going to be complete.

Now, probably, I'm guessing,

I don't know all of you that well,

I'm guessing that nobody in here

would go around,

if somebody came up to you and said,

hey, I heard you're a Christian,

can you explain what you mean by salvation?

I'm pretty sure that nobody would say

to somebody else,

like a non-believer,

well, basically it's this,

God saves us,

like 90%,

95%,

98%,

and then leaves it to us

to kind of fill up the rest

to make sure that we get to heaven.

Like, probably none of you

would explain it that way.

But I think when it comes to us,

when we think about ourselves personally,

and we hear,

work out your salvation

with fear and trembling,

we sometimes will then think things

and apply it to ourselves

that we wouldn't actually say

to other people.

Which then sometimes,

I think,

leaves us

in a place where we feel

maybe even hopeless.

Where we feel like,

now God has saved me,

but now God's out to get me.

Right?

So you hear this,

we'll talk about it in a minute.

It says,

with fear and trembling.

And the thing is,

is many of us,

many of us,

we believe that God saves us

completely by grace,

through faith,

in Jesus,

apart from our works,

because of His great love

with which He loved us.

That's what Paul says in Ephesians.

We believe that,

but then once we're saved,

I think sometimes we have this idea

that God is always behind us,

just waiting

for us to slip up.

Right?

In other words,

He goes from being

this gracious Savior

to being like

a school principal

who always assumes

that we're just

always on the brink

of doing something wrong

and the minute we do,

whap,

He's on top of us.

Right?

That He's always looking down like,

I know,

and just waiting.

Right?

Now, again,

nobody would describe God this way.

Right?

Nobody.

You would never describe God that way.

But I'm just supposing

that for lots of us,

we sometimes act

like that's what God is doing.

So He's just watching.

You better work out your salvation.

And you better do it

with fear and trembling.

If not,

I'm going to jump on you

like three seconds.

So we have this,

so we start to live

in this sort of fear.

The sort of fear

that like God is out to get me.

And I think sometimes

that comes from

just sort of reading that verse,

reading that verse

all by itself.

So, again,

right?

It comes with this promise.

That's the first thing.

And then the promise

is restated

in Philippians 2

because it is God

who's working in you

both to do

and to work

for His good purpose.

So Paul said it twice.

Paul said it twice

that this is

what God is doing.

Now, sometimes

people will say,

well, what Paul means here

is we've got to work out

what God has worked in.

I don't know if you,

this is a statement

I hear at home a lot.

People will say this.

I think, well, that's okay.

The problem is

it doesn't really tell me much.

I mean,

it's kind of catchy, right?

And I might remember it.

I might go home thinking,

yeah, I've got to work out

what God's worked in.

But then, like,

what does that mean?

Right?

I mean, the proof

is sort of in the pudding.

And that is,

if I say,

work out,

you've got to work out

what God's worked in,

what are you going to go do?

Like, what will that look like?

It's really easy to think,

yes,

that is really profound.

And I'm really going to do that.

That's really,

I've got to work out

what God's worked in.

That's even easy to remember.

It's a little bit rhymey.

I'll probably remember it.

But then you go home,

you're like,

well, what is that?

How do you even do that?

Right?

So it's a nice idea,

but it's a little bit vague

when it comes time

to put it into practice.

But the great news is

Paul doesn't leave

anything vague at all.

In fact,

he shows us

exactly what it looks like

to work out your salvation.

So you don't have to ask

any questions.

So today,

when you go home

and you think about this text,

you don't have to say to yourself,

so what kind of stuff

do I need to be doing?

Do I just come up with a list?

Right?

And I think sometimes

we kind of do that.

We hear these commands

and we hear commands

in the New Testament

as just like,

I've got to be doing more.

Right?

I've always got to be doing more.

Like, I got saved,

it was completely free.

And now,

I constantly feel like

it's just more,

I've got to do more,

I've got to do more,

I've got to do more.

Because if I don't,

God's going to turn

from being a gracious Savior

to being like,

just a really,

really mad school principal

who's going to just be

on my back

in three seconds.

Right?

So,

again,

we've said

it comes with a promise,

the promise is

that this is God's work in you,

but then it has

this really tricky thing

with fear and trembling.

Right?

And that's the part

that gets us.

Like,

if that wasn't in there,

we'd be good to go.

I mean,

seriously,

if it just said

work out your salvation

because it's God

working in you,

I mean,

this would be like

our favorite verse.

But it's that fear

and trembling part

that gets us.

So,

we need to think about

what that means.

So,

let me just tell you

three things,

three things that it isn't.

The fear and trembling

that Paul's talking about

is not living

as though God

is out to get you

at every second

the first time

you ever slip up.

The second thing is

this is not a threat.

And I think a lot of times

we hear it like a threat.

Like God saying,

you better do this.

You had better,

I'm telling you,

don't mess around here

because if you don't do it,

remember who I am.

Remember what I'm capable

of doing.

In other words,

in other words,

rather than thinking about God

as the gracious Father

who saves us in Jesus,

who has promised

to complete His work in us,

all of a sudden

we view Him as like,

He's sort of against us.

And this is the worst thing,

He's like suspicious of us.

Right?

He becomes really suspicious.

And then you know

that He knows you

better than you know yourself.

And so you kind of live

in this sort of,

in two worlds.

Right?

We live in two worlds.

It's one world of

salvation by grace

through faith alone,

apart from my works,

and then in the,

God's out to get me.

However you might

describe that.

Right?

You might not say

God's out to get me,

but I think you probably

know what I mean.

We all would have

a different way

of expressing that.

And it's not usually

stuff we would say

out loud,

by the way.

You usually wouldn't

tell other people,

you know,

I think God's out to get me.

You might even,

you never talk that way.

But I'm talking like

when you're alone

and you're thinking about it

and you have sort of

reviewed what your day

has been like

and you've reviewed

the things that have

come into your mind,

and you've reviewed

the things that you've said

that you wish you hadn't

have said,

and you've reviewed

the things that you

should have said

but didn't say,

and then at the end

you feel like,

I could hide from God

if I could.

And you can't figure out

how to put together

this idea that God

is your gracious Savior

and Jesus apart from

your works,

and how you to work out

your salvation

with fear and trembling.

So the third thing

that this fear is not,

it is not the fear

and trembling

that Adam and Eve

felt in the garden.

So you might remember

the story,

I'm not going to

repeat the whole thing,

they eat the fruit

and the first thing

they do is hide

because they're terrified.

And so God comes

and says,

where are you?

And they said,

we heard you coming

and we were afraid.

So Paul doesn't say,

work out your salvation

and be very afraid

that God is going to

get you if you don't.

So here's what it is.

Number one,

the fear and trembling

that Paul is talking about

is living with the reality

that the one who is

working in you

is the God

who created the world

and who is sovereign

and all-powerful,

and he is your God.

Number two,

it's acknowledging

and confessing,

this is the most important part,

it is acknowledging

and confessing

your own inability

to save yourself.

In other words,

it is always remembering,

it is always a reminder

that if we are left

on our own,

we are doomed.

If we try

to save ourselves,

we are finished.

If we feel like

God has got this started,

now I've got to put in

my 10% or whatever percent,

it doesn't matter,

it could be half of a 1%,

and it still is impossible.

Then,

then,

then,

then we do stand before God

exposed

and afraid.

And finally,

it's simply this.

It's the reality

of children

living under the authority

of a father.

Like he says

in verse 15,

right?

In verse 15,

he just calls them,

in verse 15,

he says,

so that you may be

blameless and pure,

children of God.

Right?

So,

I grew up with

the most loving

and kind

father imaginable.

my dad was a,

he was a great guy

and he was very loving

and he loved everyone,

but he was a really

tough guy too.

Right?

So,

my dad grew up

really,

really poor.

He lived in the mountains

of West Virginia

and he served in the army.

He landed at D-Day.

He went,

he came home

and then went into business

and worked nonstop

for like 45 years.

So,

he was really

kind of like

a no-nonsense

kind of guy

but very loving.

And,

my dad and I

had a great relationship

but I can also

tell you this,

there was a certain amount

and sometimes

not enough,

there was a certain amount

of really healthy fear

I had of my dad

when I would do

something wrong.

Or that when my dad

would give me

and like he would be

telling me what to do.

Right?

So,

I also worked for my dad

at the auto shop.

And,

I knew

that when dad

came around

and said,

you know,

I need you to do

this right now,

he didn't have to tell me

that there were

consequences if I didn't.

But,

it wasn't threatening.

It was never a threat.

My dad was never like,

you better do this kid

or

I am going to

break out all over you.

Or like the belt's

coming off in three seconds.

But,

there was a,

I did have this

healthy fear of my dad

because he was my dad.

And,

he was my father

and he had authority

over me.

And,

the way that relationship

works is,

fathers have authority

over their children

and their children

recognize that.

Now,

sometimes,

sometimes because

different sorts of,

we have different sorts

of father and children,

child relationships

among us,

sometimes those

illustrations don't work

too well.

Right?

Because you might be

thinking of a situation

you were in

that was not like

my situation

with my dad.

Where it was

actually just complete,

straight up fear.

Not respect,

but just fear.

But,

what Paul's talking

about here

is this respect

of understanding

that God is your father

and you are his child.

But,

it's also remembering

that this father

is the same father

who promises

to finish a good work

in you.

So,

what does Paul mean

to work out

your salvation?

What does that

even look like?

Well,

the great news is,

as I said this before,

Paul's already told them.

He's already told us

what it looks like

to work out

your salvation.

And all we have to do

is back up

a little bit

to get our answer.

Right?

So,

this is the next point

I want to get.

The next point is

answering the question,

what does it look like?

How do I do this?

Well,

at the beginning

of chapter 2,

Paul shows us

what it looks like.

Therefore,

if you have any

encouragement

from being united

with Christ,

if any comfort

from His love,

if any calm and sharing

in the Spirit,

if any tenderness

and compassion,

then make my joy

complete.

And here it comes.

He's getting ready

to tell you

this is exactly

what it looks like

to work out

your salvation.

to make my joy

complete by being

like-minded,

having the same love,

being one in Spirit

and of one mind.

Do nothing out of

selfish ambition

or vain conceit.

Rather,

in humility,

value others

above yourselves.

Not looking

to your own interests,

but each of you

to the interests

of others.

That's what it looks like.

That's what

working out

your salvation

actually looks like.

You see,

it's not adding,

it's not like adding

to God's incomplete work.

It is living

as God's children

on the earth

among ourselves

and loving one another

and putting our interests,

putting the interests

of others ahead

of ourselves.

That's,

I know,

it's like very

anticlimactic.

Like,

shouldn't it be more

exciting than that?

Right?

I mean,

really,

you hear it

and you're like,

man,

I kind of thought

it was going to be

kind of like fireworks

or something.

But it isn't.

It isn't.

And if we're still

not convinced,

I'm not saying you're not,

but pretend you're not.

I'll give you

a little more evidence.

Because now Paul

is going to give

the world's greatest

example

of somebody

who put the interests

of somebody,

of others

before themselves,

and that is

Jesus himself.

Right?

Because,

I mean,

I kind of started

in verse 12,

but I did that

on purpose

because verse 12

is just,

Paul hasn't stopped

since verse 1

of chapter 2.

And so then he says,

in your relationships

with one another,

have the same mindset

as Jesus,

who,

being in the very nature

of God,

did not consider

equality of God

something to be used

for his own advantage.

So in other words,

think about this.

So Jesus,

who is the very

form of God,

he is the son of God,

he is the second person

of the Trinity,

had everything,

he could have used

every power imaginable

in the universe

and used it for himself.

Everything.

There's nothing

he couldn't have done.

But he didn't.

He didn't use

what was rightfully his.

And we'll get to that

in a second.

He didn't use

what was rightfully his

for his own gain.

But gave that up.

He gave up that right

for other people,

for you.

That's what he's done.

But rather,

he became like nothing

by taking on

the very nature

of his servant,

being made

in human likeness.

Being found

in appearance of man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient

to death,

even death on a cross.

Therefore God

exalted him

to the highest place

and gave him

the name that is

above every name,

that at the name

of Jesus

every knee should bow

in heaven and on earth

and under the earth

and every tongue

acknowledged,

confess,

that Jesus Christ

is Lord

to the glory

of God the Father.

By the way,

that is the best way

to think about

the fear and trembling

part.

Is that Jesus

is reigning

and Jesus is reigning

and every knee

and every knee

will bow

and every tongue

will confess

that Jesus is Lord.

Ultimately,

one way or another.

One way or another.

There is not a person

on the earth,

one way or another,

who will not one day

confess

that Jesus

is the King.

Right?

And that means

whether you are doing

that as one

who is saved

by grace

through faith in Jesus,

knowing that God's

work of salvation

is yours,

or those who resist,

who one day

will find

that Jesus

is on the throne

and that they

will confess him

whether they

confess him

in life or not.

But whatever the case,

whatever the case,

the great news here is,

see,

if we would even

start reading

at chapter 2,

by the time

you get to work

out your salvation,

you get to hear

what it's like.

In other words,

working out your salvation

means this,

and that is living

for others

like the way

Jesus lived for you.

Because that is

your salvation.

Think about

what your salvation is.

Your salvation

is the gift

that you have

from Jesus

who lived

and died

for you.

That's what,

I mean,

there's lots of ways

we could define salvation,

right?

But that's what he says.

Work out your salvation.

And the salvation

he has in mind here

is exactly what

he just described.

That is the salvation

you have

because Jesus

served you.

Jesus,

who had

all the power

of all eternity,

we can't even imagine,

we can't even put it

into words,

could have done

everything to protect

himself,

he'd been good to go.

Right?

And he had the right

to do so.

Jesus wasn't compelled,

like,

well,

I guess I have to save.

It's not any choice.

It's,

somebody's got to do it.

I guess I'll do it.

No,

he did it freely.

You see?

And so when Jesus

submitted himself

to the cross,

he did that freely.

He could have,

in a second,

snapped his fingers

and brought an end

to the whole thing.

The first time,

the first time

he's standing there

in front of the high priest

and one of the high priest's assistants

comes up

and slaps him in the face.

Jesus could have

snapped his fingers,

that guy could have

just fell over dead

right then.

Or worse.

At any moment,

at any moment,

he could have chosen

to defend himself

once and for all.

But he didn't.

He gave that up.

He didn't exercise

that right.

And so,

if you think about that,

then sort of,

think about what Paul

has just said,

and that is,

living for others.

Then you come down here

and you think,

work out your salvation.

Doesn't it make

the most sense

that rather than Paul

saying,

hey,

go home and make a list

of all the things

this might look like,

doesn't it make the most sense

to think,

maybe Paul's talking about

the things he's been talking

about for several verses now.

so that to work out your salvation

means to live out

the salvation

that has been given to you

in Jesus

so that your life

looks like his,

putting the interests

of others ahead of yourself.

And again,

again,

we hear that

and I think sometimes

we think,

oh yeah,

it's the love part.

I mean,

it's like the exciting parts

and then like,

oh,

it's just,

well,

we just need to love each other.

But the kind of love

that Paul's talking about here

is the most challenging thing

that we would ever do.

Because what Paul

is essentially saying

is this,

Jesus has freed you up

so that

you don't have to,

you no longer have to

live for yourself.

You no longer have to

exert your own right.

You no longer have to think

about sort of

whether you have time.

you are freed to the point

where you can actually live

for others

and live for others

the way Christ

has lived for us.

This is the work

that God has started in you

that he's going to complete

is transforming you.

Not transforming you

to be more like Jesus.

It's transforming you

so that your life

starts to look like this.

Think about it this way.

That our lives should look like

the salvation we've received.

Right?

So rather than think of salvation

as like this thing

that's like partially done

or wholly done

but then apparently

there's this fine print.

Rather than think about it

this way,

think about salvation

in this sense

of what it actually

looks like in your life.

So it's not just

a thing you have.

Right?

It's not just

this like,

oh here's my salvation

and I can describe it.

That's fine.

But I said not just that.

It's also something

that looks like something.

It's not just something

you talk about.

It's not just something

that we sort of discuss.

We should talk about it

and discuss it.

Absolutely.

But it's also something

that looks like something

and what it looks like

is your salvation.

The salvation

that you have

in Jesus.

Right?

So Paul's not calling you

like to be Jesus.

But he's saying

have this mind.

Have this same mind

in you

which is yours

in Jesus.

And so what he's

directing us to

what he's directing us to

is

not so much

work out

what God's worked in.

I mean that's okay.

I'm not against that.

What he's saying is

your life should look

like the gift

that you've been given.

And it's really

I know

I'm getting ready to say this

and I don't really want to

I'm going to do it anyway.

I'm going to say

it is on that level

as simple as that.

But of course

simple doesn't mean

simple to do.

Right?

Because every single day

we're confronted

I mean think about it

it's really really easy

to talk about

loving one another.

It's really really easy

to talk about

serving one another.

But you know

when kind of push

comes to shove

and it gets really

down into the details

it can be really difficult.

Because I can always

think of like

a hundred things

that I need to be doing

for myself instead.

Always.

Like at any

at the drop of a hat

any given second

I can immediately think

of something I need.

Right?

Now Paul's not here

saying like

become a doormat

for every single person

that crosses your path

and no matter

what it is you're doing

if somebody comes up

and says

hey I need you to do something

like you completely drop

I mean he's not saying that.

Right?

But what he's saying is

you have the freedom

you have this freedom

to live for other people.

And you can do it

with this confidence.

Here's why

here's why we can

live for other people.

Here's why

I don't have to

always be thinking about

my time

my responsibilities

the things

I've got to get done

but that I can

actually think of others

is this

because

I have been given

an eternal salvation

that has been promised

to me

that God

who started it

will complete it.

In other words

I live in this

complete freedom

of knowing God's

going to complete

this work in me

so I have nothing

to prove.

Right?

I have nothing to prove.

I have nothing

that I have to

I have nothing

that I personally

just have to accomplish

at the expense

of anybody else.

Because I'm resting

in God's work

that's done for me

from beginning to end.

In other words

it's when we grasp

how complete

our salvation is

that we're freed up

to live that salvation

out for one another.

And that's the key.

The key is understanding

the freedom

that you have.

And this is

strange sounding.

You and I

we are so free

this is how radically

free we are.

we don't have

to live for ourselves.

That's like the

I mean

for one thing

that sounds like

that doesn't sound

like a lot of freedom.

It doesn't in the world.

But you know

notice here

that Paul says

to live like this

children of God

in a warped

and crooked generation

in other words

in a world

that's the exact

opposite of this.

You have such freedom

that you don't have

to look out

for your own interests

because you can trust God

that what he has

started in you

he will complete

and it's a promise

in Jesus

that is not going

to be taken away.

And he says

and this will make you

shine like stars

in the world

that you're living in.

And then you won't

look what he says

I'm almost finished

he says

you will be

blameless and pure

do everything

without grumbling

or arguing.

So what's the opposite

of grumbling

arguing

is peace

contentment and peace.

So you can have

contentment and peace

rather than grumbling

and arguing

why of grasping

hold of the fact

that God has supplied

you with everything

you need in Jesus

and he has supplied

you to such an extent

that you can actually

look at another person

and live for them

and not for yourself.

And you don't have

to worry about

what recognition

you're going to get.

You don't have to worry

about is anybody

going to notice

or you know

and I know

I feel this way too

sometimes I know

that you feel like

you know

I'm doing everything

I'm serving

but nobody even notices.

And then you feel guilty

because you realize

that you just thought

well I just need more

and then it starts

this whole thing over

but see you're freed

from that too.

You're freed from that too.

You're even free

from like all the sort of

you know

binds that you put

on yourself

every time a bad

thought crosses you.

Like I'm free

from that too.

But ultimately

it's this

you're free from

needing people

to recognize

all the things

that you've done.

That's great

to be recognized.

But you know

we could all be

doing that more

is recognizing

each other

for the things

that we do.

But individually

individually

I'm free

that I don't

need to

I mean

I do

but I don't need

to worry

that other people

say recognize

the things

I've done for them

or that they gave me

enough thanks

for the things

that I've done for them.

Because if I truly believe

that God's going to complete

this great salvation

that he started in me

that should free me

of to think

I've only got one thing

to do

and that is

I don't have to

protect myself.

Now

it's really hard

to do that.

It's really easy

to say

but super hard

to do.

And all you need

to make this really

so okay

this is really easy

to do

until one thing

enters into your life

another person.

Like it is super easy

to live for others

and to love others

until

another shows up.

Like I am

the most selfless

giving

you know

kind

loving

person

on the earth

until another human being

walks in the room

and ruins that for me.

Right?

I mean I can think

I'm like

you know

I was really like

loving and living for people

and then

you know

somebody like

say my wife

walks in

and all of a sudden

that becomes really difficult

and I start thinking

about what I need to do

and how I need to assert myself

and how I need to be right

in this discussion

and I need to make sure

that she knows

that I was right

like because

just out of principle

because it's the right thing

for people to understand

who's right

and who's wrong

and that's like

really important

and then she leaves the room

and I'm like

I need to live for other people.

Right?

This is the thing

I need to do.

Right?

And then Denise

comes back in the room

and I'm like

she says something

and I'm like

well

I mean I understand

what you're saying

but

right?

I get it

why you would put it that way

but here's the reason

so

rather than grasping it

not only am I free from that

I am free to make her life better

that's what it does

you see

when we grasp the freedom

that we have in salvation

it immediately makes

everybody's life around us better

because we don't have to exert ourselves

over top of them.

Right?

And so I just want to

I want to end with this.

every time you hear a command like this

don't first hear it as

I've got to do more

and more

and more

and more

and more

the first thing is

when you hear a command like

work out your salvation

allow that command

to do its work

and what I mean is this

allow that command

to expose in your heart

how you have not been doing this.

That's an important work

because it will do that

and then what will that do?

Now it might sound like

you mean just let it really depress me

No

but don't just hear it like

yeah I've got to do more

hear it

and let that command expose in you

the places where you're not doing that

that will then do what?

Will drive you back

to your salvation in Jesus

where you realize

you know what?

I've been set free

all these places that I see in my life

the command is exposing my life

that I don't do this

I've been set free from all that

but you can only be set free by it

by having that command

sort of drive you back to the cross

over and over and over again

that's where you'll find your freedom

because once you find your freedom

in the cross

you will have this freedom

like you have never experienced before

the freedom that was given to you

by the one who

rather than exploit

all the eternal power he had

gave that up

for your sake

right?

so in other words

we progress

God's going to complete his work in us

from beginning to end

not by sort of

us moving further and further

and further and further away from the cross

but by every single day

coming back to it

every single day

coming back to it

and understanding that

it's in the cross of Jesus

that we're free

to live for one another

and

to work out our salvation

with fear and trembling

because

it is God

himself

who is working in us

both to will

and to work

for

his good pleasure

and you have that as a promise

let's pray together

Father it's really easy to hear these things

and to talk about them

and to

make a big deal about them

and to

you know

feel like we're

ready

but Lord we know that if

you're not with us

we'll walk out these doors

and

our lives may look anything but

like what we've heard here

but we're confident Lord

not in ourselves

but we're confident that

you are a God who

keeps your promises

and that you don't just

trick us

you don't just

lead us along

you don't just

give us something

and then

show us the fine print

later

but Lord we need you

to do this

in our lives

just as you promised

so Lord

all we pray today

is that you would keep

your promises to us

in Christ

in his name we pray

Amen

Amen

Amen

Amen

You