Philippians 2:12–18
This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.
Our oldest son, Leo, turned 10 yesterday, so happy birthday, Leo. Parenting has been a joy. It's also been somewhat difficult at times. For those of you who have had the pleasure of raising kids, you know what I'm talking about. You want and expect obedient children, but it doesn't take very long to realize that kids are not born as little angels. They're not blank slates or morally neutral.
No, they're what our pastor Greg affectionately calls them, little bundles of iniquity. They need to be taught obedience, right? They need discipline. And sometimes it's hard to know early on whether they're disobeying because they don't know right and wrong or simply out of rebellion. Sometimes it's hard to know the difference. They're sitting there in the high chair. They've got their plate of food. And then all of a sudden, the plate and the food are on the floor and you're cleaning up.
Sometimes, though, after you've taught them what disobedience is, they give you that look. You know, parents, you know what look I'm talking about. They're sitting there with their plate of food now. And right before they tip it over, they look right at you. And they go ahead and do it anyways. Teaching kids to obey is not easy. It doesn't get any easier when we're older either, does it? Obedience or disobedience.
It's a choice that we are faced with throughout our lives. This is our third week now walking through Philippians. And today we're going to turn to Philippians 2, 12 through 18. You can go ahead and turn there. It's on page 980 of the Pew Bible. philippi was a roman colony in northern greece and the philippian church was a church that was started by paul around a.d. 50 and he's writing to this church about 10 years later paul went there in a.d. 50 and a few people were converted this woman named lydia a slave girl the jailer and that was the start of this church in Philippi. It was a very small beginning, but this came to be a church that Paul loved deeply, and they supported him in the gospel. This is a church that Paul could look back to and remember that they are standing with him in the gospel. So Paul's writing
to this church 10 years later, and this time he's in prison again, but he's likely in Rome this time, And Paul wanted to write to this young church for a number of reasons. First of all, they had sent him another financial gift. Paul's in prison. He can't support himself. And so this church is in partnership with him, and they send him a financial gift. But secondly, there's also a threat to the church. There's a threat of heresy coming and attacking the church from outside.
You can read about that in chapter 3. and then there's a threat from within, a threat of disunity inside the church, and that's what Paul talks about in chapter 4. So Paul wrote to the church to thank them, to counter heresy, and to remind them of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The idea that the second person of the Trinity, who existed before time, took on human flesh. He humbled himself to the point of death. The overarching message of Philippians is a message of joy in the gospel, even through difficult circumstances.
It was the gospel that brought Philippians and Paul together. It's the gospel that they need to hear to continue on in the faith. It's the gospel that they have to look forward to, being with God forever. And Paul urges the Philippians to unite and rejoice in that gospel. Rejoice in the Lord and stand firm in the gospel. Let's read our text for this morning, Philippians 2, 12 through 18. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as 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 a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I 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. As Christians, we are to live as good citizens of the kingdom. And as we wait for the return of our King, Jesus Christ. More simply, and here's our main idea this morning. Live as good citizens as we wait for the return of our king.
Live as good citizens as we wait for the return of our king. Live as good citizens, not just of an earthly kingdom. For those of us who are Christians, we've been made citizens of a heavenly kingdom. This section right here in chapter 2, verse 12, it starts with a word, therefore, therefore. That word links us to what came before. This section is certainly linked to the section that we just looked at last week.
If you just look at Philippians 2, verse 8, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. Paul wants to point to Jesus' obedience, his example, and say, this is your motivation. This is your ground for obeying. But even further than that, Paul references the Philippians' obedience, both while Paul is with them in his presence and also in his absence while he's away.
And that's a direct call back to Philippians 1.27, which, if you'll remember, is the main idea of this whole book. Philippians 1, 27. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel. If you can remember from a couple of weeks ago, that idea of let your manner of life be worthy, it really means just be good citizens.
Be good citizens. And here in chapter 2, verses 12 through 18, Paul spells out even further what he means by that. Good citizens obey, enduring through hope and suffering with joy. We're going to have three points this morning, and here's the first point. Spirit-empowered obedience. spirit-empowered obedience. First, Paul addresses the Philippians, and he refers to them as my beloved. Paul loves the Philippians, and he wants good things for them. He wants them to obey God.
He wants good things for them, and one of those things is obeying God. Good citizens obey. As citizens of heaven, we're supposed to obey God and his word, and that's good for us. This is extremely basic, I know, and it's something that we all know is true. But of course, it doesn't take very long in the Christian life to realize that obedience doesn't come easily. No, our hearts are fickle, and just like little kids, rebellion comes naturally. We all sin. So why then does Paul say, as you have always obeyed? What does he mean by that? As you have always obeyed. Certainly, he can't mean that they never sinned, because they did. They were sinners, right? Just like you and me.
Sometimes I think we get confused as Christians, thinking that since we have been saved, we stop sinning. Otherwise, we're no longer Christians. Oh sure, sometimes we sin unintentionally, just like children who don't know right or wrong. You do something you didn't know it was wrong, and that's okay. That can be forgiven. But doing something you know is wrong, that's unforgivable, we think to ourselves. That thing that you struggle with, you know it's wrong, but once again you disobeyed. How can I be forgiven of that? After all, the author of Hebrews says this, for if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. This sounds scary. Is the author of Hebrews saying that if we knowingly do something wrong that we cannot be saved? Well, no, I don't think so.
Back in the Old Testament, back in Leviticus and Exodus and Deuteronomy, the things that the author of Hebrews was drawing on, God was teaching Moses about intentional sins and unintentional sins. And in Leviticus and Numbers, he's talking about these unintentional sins, and he includes things like oppression and robbery. Did you hear that? In the list of unintentional sins are oppression and robbery. Oppression and robbery happen knowingly.
I don't know if you've ever stolen something, but chances are if you did, it didn't happen accidentally. Oh, where did that come from? No, no. When you steal something, you know what you're doing. And yet, God says that there is sacrifice and forgiveness for the person who commits these sins if they repent. There's the catch. What God means by intentional sins and what the author of Hebrews is talking about is high-handed sin. It's when you sin against God with your fist in the air, not caring, not fearing, not trembling, not repenting. You know that you should not be angry at others and hate them, but you still get angry. You know you're not supposed to lust, but you still lust. You know that you shouldn't do any number of things, and yet you still sin. That doesn't mean that you can't be forgiven. You can be forgiven, but you need to repent.
You need to turn to God and you will be forgiven. But you haven't committed some unforgivable sin that can't be forgiven just because you did something that you knew you weren't supposed to do. So when Paul says, bring it back to the text here, when Paul says they have always obeyed, he doesn't mean that they've stopped sinning. No, what Paul means is that they are continuing in the faith. They are redeemed rebels. They're sinners who've been saved by Jesus, but they must continue in the faith. They must work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. What does Paul mean there by fear and trembling? Well, it means living in reverence and awe of God.
It means understanding that you are a creature. He's the creator. We must bow before our king. We must turn to him in repentance. Take his hand of forgiveness. That's what living in fear or working out your salvation with fear and trembling means. But what about the work out your salvation part? That can be a little confusing. Work out your salvation. What does he mean by that? Is he talking about earning salvation?
Are we supposed to work for our salvation? No, we know that salvation is a gift. Elsewhere, Paul says in Romans, to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies. His faith is counted as righteousness. So when we believe, we are justified. We're declared righteous before God. one time the Jews asked Jesus, what must we do to be doing the works of God? Jesus answered them, this is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent. The life of a Christian is a life of repentance and faith, not a life without sin, but a life of humility, acknowledging your great need of a Savior. And that must continue throughout your life up until the end. The one who endures
to the end will be saved. This is what we refer to sometimes as sanctification. So we just talked about justification, being declared righteous by faith in God. But there's another part of our salvation, which is sanctification. The idea of becoming holy. It's a process of becoming more and more like God. See, when you're justified, you are sanctified. You're set apart. You're made holy.
And yet, the work of sanctification, it's an ongoing process. It's not complete on day one. No, it has to continue throughout your life. In justification, you don't play an active role at all. You put your faith in Jesus, you are declared righteous. But in sanctification, we do play a role. And that's what Paul's talking about here. The life of obedience and sanctification, it's motivated by looking to our Savior.
That's why Paul just went through his example of Jesus' life of obedience and death. But we see here that it's also empowered by the spirit that he's poured into our hearts. Look at verse 13. God works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. We continue in the faith because it's God working in us. We work because God works, but God working in us does not negate the fact that we must work. Here we're running up against one of the great mysteries of the Christian life, right? God's sovereignty, the fact that he's in control of all things and our responsibility. God's sovereignty, man's responsibility.
God's in control of all things and yet we are still responsible for our actions. How can this be? It seems like a contradiction, right? It's not though. It's just a mystery. A mystery is something that seems like a contradiction. It's an apparent contradiction, and yet it's something that we believe because we see both of these things affirmed in Scripture. It's something we cannot fully understand, and yet it's true. So, for instance, it's like the Trinity. Are you going to tell me that you can fully understand the Trinity? That God is one being who exists in three persons, each one fully God, or another one, the dual nature of Christ. Christ is fully God and fully man, 100% God and 100% man. Can you wrap your mind around these things?
Probably not, but we can believe them because they're in God's word, and God's word is always true. God is in control of all things, even our daily lives, and yet we are still responsible for our actions. We're not robots. We make decisions, and those decisions are congruent with our desires. And so we see that even though God is working in us, and he is causing us to live in a certain way, we still play a role in our sanctification. God is working in us. He is the one giving the power, the ability, the desire to obey him. You see, under the old covenant, the Holy Spirit had not been poured out in the same way that we see the Holy Spirit being poured out in the new covenant, which is the covenant that we're under as Christians. This is one of
the great promises that God gave to his people in the Old Testament. Listen to what Ezekiel said in chapter 36, and this is God speaking. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you, and I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. There it is, right there in the Old Testament.
The power of God through the Holy Spirit working in us to obey. Remember, this is what Paul was praying for them back in chapter 1 as well. In chapter 1, 9 through 11, and it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. And this idea, it's not unique to Paul either. We see this throughout scripture. The author of Hebrews says to strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness, that's sanctification, without which no one will see the Lord. Sanctification is necessary. Listen to what Peter says in 2 Peter. For this very reason
make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election. For if you practice these qualities, you will never fail. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We have been justified. We've been declared righteous before God,
but we must strive for holiness, knowing that God is working in us. Our work is important, but it's God's work that's empowering us. And when we continue to work out our salvation, we see God working in us, we're reminded that we've been justified and the process continues. When we do this, it's pleasing to God. God is pleased when we look more and more like his son Jesus. But Paul doesn't stop there. No, he gives us even more fuel to continue in the faith in verses 14 through 16, which brings us to our second point.
Point two, endurance through hope. This is verses 14 through 16. Endurance through hope. Where am I getting that? Let's read this. Do all things without grumbling or disputing that you may be blameless and innocent. children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Endurance through hope. Well, we just read it, and you still probably don't see where I got endurance through hope. Well, it's in verse 15, right? It's right there. Hold fast. That's endurance. Enduring. Holding fast. So that at the day of Christ. And that's our hope. The day of Christ. You see, there's more going on here than
just a plain command to not grumble or complain, right? That's what Paul starts off with. And you thought maybe I would start, title this point, don't grumble. No, there's actually something more going on here. Paul's actually quoting from Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 32 verses 4 and 5. It's probably a footnote in your Bible there, but listen to this. The rock, his work is perfect for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.
They have dealt corruptly with him. They are no longer his children because they are blemished. They are a crooked and twisted generation. You remember the story of Israel, right? The story of Israel. They were in bondage in Egypt. And God delivered them miraculously through the plagues, through the crossing of the Red Sea. He defeated their enemies. And he was going to bring them into the promised land and make them a light to the surrounding nations.
But on the way to the promised land, they became angry with God. They even longed at one point to go back to Egypt, back into bondage. They grumbled about the food that God provided for them. They even accused God of bringing them into the wilderness to kill them. You see, they forgot where they had been. They forgot who it was that saved them. And they forgot where they were headed.
They were grumbling and complaining against Moses and Aaron. But Moses reminded them that their complaining ultimately was against God. Their complaining and grumbling was ultimately against God. And it's the same for you and me. When you grumble and complain or dispute about this or that, who are you grumbling against? When you grumble because of your circumstances, when you grumble because of where you live, when you grumble about your friends, when you grumble about your workplace and your coworkers, when you grumble about the job you have, When you grumble because you didn't get the job that you wanted.
When you grumble about the job that you just got, but it didn't satisfy you. And now you're still discontent. When you grumble about the spouse that you don't have. When you grumble about the spouse that you do have. When you grumble about not having kids. When you grumble about the kids that God has given to you. On and on we could go. and you know exactly what I'm talking about. All of it, all of our grumbling, ultimately, it goes right up to God. Why? Because, as we just saw, God is in control. God is sovereign. He's in control of all things. Everything we have comes from his hand. So when we grumble and complain, and we do that about all kinds of things, we're grumbling against God. And yet, Paul says here in verse 14, do all things without grumbling or complaining. All things? Really? Surely that
that doesn't really mean all. Can we check the Greek under there? What does that really say? Surely you mean some things or most things. Like, I know I'm not supposed to grumble when things are going well. But what about when it's justified? When things aren't going my way? When I get cut off in traffic? When I have to wait in line at the store? When my boss isn't treating me well? When my loved one gets sick?
When I get sick? Surely it's okay to grumble then, right? No. Paul says, do all things, that means all things, without grumbling or complaining. Paul himself had reasons to grumble, didn't he? Even just looking at his present circumstances, what's happening to him right now as he's writing this letter, let alone everything that he suffered during his ministry.
He's sitting in prison right now, unjustly. He didn't do anything wrong, and he's been in prison for years. Paul has every reason to grumble and complain. Paul could have been top grumbler, but instead, Paul is top rejoicer. Right here in this letter to the Philippians, Paul says, Here are five reasons why me being in prison is a good thing. Here are five reasons why me dying will end up being good for you and for me.
Paul could have been the top grumbler, but now he's the top rejoicer. Paul is saying to the Philippians, don't be like Israel. Listen to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10. Now these things, he's talking about the exodus, traveling through the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us that we might not desire evil as they did. We must not put Christ to the test as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble as some of them did and were destroyed by the destroyer.
Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction on whom the end of the ages has come. So don't fall into grumbling and complaining like the Israelites. It might seem like a small thing, but it's really not. It can twist your heart and your view of God. Don't become a crooked and twisted generation. If you're a Christian, you've been saved by God from your bondage to sin.
And you've been adopted into his family. You are now children of God. And we're on the way to the promised land of heaven to be with our God forever. But we still have to go through this journey of life. And we are to be different from the crooked and twisted generation that surrounds us. We are to shine as light in the world, just as Israel was supposed to shine. Remember what Jesus said, Let your light shine before men that they might see your good works and glorify God.
One of the main ways that we can stand out differently from the world around us is to not fall into grumbling and complaining. It's to live a life of gratitude. Just by doing that, you will stand out as different. Because grumbling and complaining is natural for everyone. Why do we grumble and complain? Because we don't get what we want. Or we do get what we don't want. We question God. How could you let this happen?
Why is this happening to me? But what if we turn this whole line of questioning on its head? Why did God save you in the first place? Did you earn it? Did you deserve it? Did God owe salvation to you? Do you deserve anything good from God? If we answer honestly, the answer is no. The only thing that we've earned from God is judgment for our own sin. But God saved you while you were still a sinner.
He sent his son to take your place. You see, we forget what we've been saved from. We forget what lies ahead for us. Remind yourself of the gospel. That's what Paul is saying. Don't succumb to Satan's lies. One of the main ways that we can stand out from the world is to hold on to the gospel. Hold on, hold fast to the word of life. Holding fast to the gospel, holding fast to Jesus. Jesus will make all things right in the end.
So we endure through hope. We endure by remembering what's ahead. Hope is looking forward. We endure by remembering that our king is going to return. And that day shouldn't fill us with fear and dread, but joy and longing, everlasting life in the presence of our God. Paul wants our eyes fixed on Jesus and his return. That will fuel our obedience in the here and now. But of course, if you're not a Christian, if that day seems far off in the future, your death, it's so far from now, you think. Standing before the creator of the universe, that's never going to happen. If you're not a Christian, that day should fill you with dread.
You cannot stand before a holy God. No one can stand before a holy God. None of us, not me, Not you. Not the best person that you could think of. Not Gandhi. Not Mother Teresa. There is no man who lived a perfect life except for Jesus Christ, the God-man. He lived a life of perfect obedience. And not only that, he died the death that you and I deserve for our sin.
He took the punishment that we deserve, and then he was raised three days later, defeating our enemies, Satan, sin, and death. And he offers you salvation this morning. Believe this, repent of your sin, and you will be saved. Well, finally, in verses 17 through 18, Paul reminds the Philippians that he might not have long left. Even so, he's going to live out his life in joy.
Look at verses 17 and 18. Even if I am 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 then rejoice with me. Okay, I see the word rejoice there, but the rest of that is pretty confusing. Point three, suffering with joy. Suffering with joy. What in the world is Paul talking about here?
Well again, Paul is alluding to the Old Testament. He was steeped in his Bible, and it just comes oozing out of him. So if you'll remember, Paul is in prison in Rome. He's near the end of his life. He doesn't know if he's going to get out or not. There's a real chance that he could be put to death in prison. Even still, if he's going to die, he's going to rejoice. And he wants the Philippians to rejoice right along with him. Why is that? Well, it's kind of in the details of these weird allusions to the Old Testament, talking about sacrifices. You see, I tried to read it so that you would see the two different sacrifices, but there's actually two sacrifices that Paul is talking about here. First, Paul refers to himself as the drink offering. It's a drink offering that is poured out. Does that refer to his impending death? Maybe. Or maybe it's just referring to his
whole ministry of being poured out. Either way, it refers to his life being poured out. His entire ministry was suffering and hardship, and in the end, he did die. The drink offering was something, though, that accompanied another offering, another sacrifice. You see, the main sacrifice is what Paul refers to here as the Philippians' faith, the sacrificial offering of your faith. This offering of the Philippians is what Paul refers to again in chapter 4 as a pleasing aroma, another sacrifice.
So in this ritual that Paul is referring to, you have this drink offering which accompanies the main offering, the sacrificial offering. And it's the sacrificial offering that is way more valuable than the drink offering. The sacrificial offering was an expensive animal often. And this drink offering is just something that is accompanying the sacrificial offering. It's poured over it. So here, we see that Paul demonstrates his humility once again.
The sacrificial offering was the primary thing. The drink offering was secondary. Paul once again shows that he considers others more important than himself. It was the financial support of the Philippians, their sacrificial offering, that even allowed Paul to continue on to be a drink offering. The drink offering was cheap. The sacrificial offering was expensive. Paul once again shows himself as an example of humility. Furthermore, rather than letting his difficult circumstances, the fact that he's in prison, he could die, instead of letting that discourage him to fall into grumbling and complaining. Instead, Paul had great joy.
Just as Jesus laid down his life in obedience to the Father, Paul too is willing to lay down his life for the Philippians, for their faith. Paul was willing to pour out his life for the continued faith of the Philippians. It's amazing humility. And another example for us, how can we at Third Avenue look to pour out our lives for the faith of others? How can you use the suffering that you're going through right now as something to encourage other members and other believers?
Don't waste your suffering. Don't use your suffering as a way to grumble and complain. Remember, God intends your suffering ultimately for your good. Romans 5. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoiced in the hope of glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame. We have been saved. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing.
No danger, no tribulation, no cancer. Nothing can separate you from the love of God. And joy in the midst of suffering is a beautiful picture of humility. Paul's not saying it's easy. It takes the power of God and his spirit to allow you to do this. But that's the point. You are not the light.
Jesus is the light that will shine before others as you cling to him. And as you suffer and Jesus is glorified, your light will shine all the brighter. We're not in control. God is in control. But he's working in us. He wants us to obey. He wants to give us the desire to obey. He will bring to completion the work that he has begun in you, in me, in all of us.
We are called to hold fast to him as we go through the winds and the waves of life. And if we do that, then the light of the gospel will shine that much brighter in the midst of a dark world. Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we pray that you would give us the power, the desire, the will to obey your word.
Father, we pray this morning that as we are going through various circumstances in life, as we encounter suffering and hardships, Lord, we pray that we would not fall into grumbling and complaining, but that we would see even these things as good gifts from you. Father, we pray that you would use us to make the gospel clear to a lost and dying world. We pray all of this in the name of Jesus. Amen.