Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. do all things without murmurings and disputings, that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not rung in vain, neither laboured in vain. Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all. For the same cause also do you joy and rejoice with me. Amen. And again, may the Lord bless the reading of his word to our hearts. Let's bow in prayer and we'll ask the Lord just to give us that help that we need this morning as we come to the preaching of his word. Gracious and eternal God, we humbly bow in thy presence this morning. And as we would come to this time around the word of God, having already sang thy praise, heard thy word being read, having already entered into the spirit of worship, we ask, O Lord, that you would now speak to us and that you would communicate to us through thy divine truth. We ask, O Lord, that as the word of God is preached, that you would give help to declare it boldly and yet accurately, that this would be thy word. We ask, O Lord, that as it is preached to us, that the spirit of God may take that word. and apply it to our hearts and lives. We realize, O Lord, that no church or no Christian can merely get by in the flesh. We need the working of the Spirit of God upon our hearts and upon our congregation. And we ask, O Lord, that the Spirit would come and work upon our hearts this day, that the word would be a living word to us, that it would become alive to our very souls, and that you would give help both to the hearer and to the preacher to preach the word of God. Lord, give me clarity of thought and clarity of speech, we pray. And I ask it as I would open up my mouth that you might fill it with thy praise. For we ask it in the name of thy only begotten son, in his wonderful name. Amen and amen. If you were to ask a large group of people the question, why are you working? Or what do you hope to achieve through working? I believe the majority answer that you would get in response would be something along the lines of retirement. I am working, so someday I do not have to work. And this today is the popular motive behind why people enter into employment, get engaged in a career, but they always have it in the front of their vision that they hope someday to end that job and to finish that career and retire. Now the idea of retirement began in the Roman Empire through the Roman Empire providing a pension for those who had served in the military. But it was really introduced into our modern world by the conservative German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. He did this in reaction to the communists who were stoking up political trouble in the nation at that time. And he introduced it to, and essentially all those over 70 years had to retire. They were forced into retirement, but in turn they would receive a pension from the state to sustain them. This would open up more jobs in the economy, in the workplace, for the younger people to engage then in employment. fast track over a hundred years and the idea of retirement has become an ideal for many irregardless of age. Much of the money advice that you hear today is how to retire young and early and retirement has become this fixation of which we have in our minds. Now the text before us this morning reminds us of the work that we are called to engage in as the Lord's people. It says there in verse number 12, and I'll focus in on this one part, where it says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Now as we will come to consider what this work is this morning, I want you to keep in your mind that this is a work that you as a Christian are called to for the entirety of your Christian experience in this world. That there is no retirement from the work that is before you as a believer, as a child of God. Yes, we are working on our way to glory. We are working on our way to heaven. But we will work as believers and we will work as we'll come to see in sanctification until the day that we die and we enter into our celestial home. There will be no sick days from this work. There will be no days off from this work. There will be no holiday period or long weekend from the work that we are called to be engaged in, in holiness in our lives. Now notice it says then in verse number 13, and here we have the two main statements that I want to bring together and to consider with you today. In verse number 13 it says, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. It is God who works in you. And so the question might be then, well, which is it? Is it we who are called to work or is it God who is working in us? And the answer very simply is both. It is we who are called to work and to labor in the area of sanctification, but it is also God who by His Spirit works in our hearts to sanctify us each and every day. And so the passage before us in the two verses that I primarily want to consider with you this morning is teaching us concerning the cooperation that there is in our sanctification. that there is a cooperation in our Christian experience, whereas we work and we labor to become more holy and godly and conform to the image of Christ, so God also works with us and in us for his own glory and good pleasure. And so the subject that I want to bring out this morning for you is entitled, Working Out the Inward Work. Working Out the Inward Work. Now, as we think again of this section, we've already dealt with the previous verses of chapter number two, and there was two main subjects that we had considered together. First of all, we considered the humiliation of Christ, and then we considered together the exaltation of Christ. And Paul has not begun a new argument here, nor has he begun a completely new distinct section of thought disassociated from what has come before. For I want you to see the important word there that connects everything in verse 12, wherefore. And so having considered the truth that God blesses the humble, having seen the reality, lived out in the experience and example of Christ, that God will exalt the humble and bless the humble and reward the meek. We, in light of that, are now to live out our Christian lives with that thread being woven right through it. Paul here gives three exhortations in this section. He says there in the verse number 12, work out your own salvation. Then in verse number 14, do all things without murmurings and disputings. And then in verse number 16, hold forth the word of life. But how are we to do these three things? And they'll be the basis of the next few sermons. But how are we to do these things? We are to do them in view of Christ. We are to do them in view of his example, how that he entered into this world in his state of humiliation, and he lived out in this world a life of constant humility. So as we consider this passage today and in subsequent weeks as well, the exhortations to unity in verse 14 and to hold forth the word of life, it is with that essential truth woven through it. that we are to do these things with humility, with lowliness of heart, esteeming the other person better than ourselves, recognizing this truth that God will bless the humble and God will exalt us in due time. But here we see, as we continue on here, that I want to just consider the first of these exhortations, because you really can consider these exhortations in themselves, standing in their own right. And so this morning, we're just going to consider the verse number 12 and the verse number 13, where we have that truth of God's work in our work of sanctification, God working inwardly in us and how we are called then to work out that inward work. Now as we come to consider this this morning there's three things that I want you to see. We're going to consider first of all the commendation. that Paul gives to the Philippians who have already begun this work of sanctification. But then secondly, we're going to see the exhortation that he gives to the Philippians to continue on in this work of sanctification. And then thirdly, we're going to recognize the divine work in sanctification and God's work in the lives of these Philippians as he continued to sanctify them. Now you'll notice with me here as we consider the commendation of the Philippians. It says here the commendation of the Philippians. Notice here first of all who he is addressing this to. He says wherefore my beloved and the term beloved is a interesting term for him to use. Paul only ever uses this term in reference to believers. It is a word that he employs in several of his epistles to address the Lord's people. And it is a word that identifies the unique relationship and the unique love that he had as apostle to people and from people to apostle as well. Now, we must establish this because as we will come to see, there are those who would like to try and take this verse, wrestle it from its context and say, well, see, we are to work in our salvation. It's not just that God does the work, but that we are actually to work out something in our own salvation. And of course they misapply and misunderstand the word salvation there. But they will try to take this as something that is to be preached in terms of you must save yourself. That's the idea. Or you must contribute something to your own justification in the eyes of God. And that is not the sense. Because we see here right from the start, who is Paul speaking to? He's speaking to the beloved. He's speaking to God's people. He's not speaking to the unbeliever. He's not speaking to the heathen. He's not speaking to the unconverted. He's speaking to the Lord's people. And so as we will come to see, this is speaking about sanctification, not justification. We keep that in mind. It's one of the reasons why we believe that, because this is being addressed to God's people. But also as well, this word, It continues to show us the deep affection that there was between Paul and these Philippian believers. And this is something that we ought to long for and pray for, that there would be among the Lord's people Not just the use of the word beloved, but the very essence of that word as well, that we would feel that loving connection between one another as brothers and sisters in the Lord. Having been united together by Christ, having been bound together in Him for all of night time and right into eternity, for all of eternity, we will be all united together in Christ. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. Oh, may the Lord increase even the love that there is in affection between us. But notice here, what did he command them for? What did he command them for? Well, he says here in verse number 12, Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence." He commends them here for their obedience. They have obeyed. Now, who have they obeyed? Well, I believe there's a twofold answer here. They have obeyed, first of all, Paul. They have obeyed Paul. Paul is the one sent by God as the minister to them. He had preached to them. He had given to them that apostolic truth. He was preaching the word of God, revealing the word of God, dividing, expounding the word of God to them. And they had received that truth from him. but also their obedience was to God as well. They were obeying the word of God. Yes, they had received from Paul, but it was God's word, and so they were living a life of obedience to him. Now, I believe this shows the character of the people here, that these were a people who were just taking in the word of God, drinking in what God was saying to them through the preaching of the word, and they were obeying it. They weren't trying to be stubborn. They weren't digging in their heels. They were simply hearing what the word being preached was and they were obeying and submitting their lives to it. And here again, we see the wonderful character personality of this people, just a willing submission to the Word of God. Not trying to skirt around God's commands, not putting up arguments against God's commands, trying to get out of what the Bible would bind and require us to do, but simply obeying, obeying. Now there are those that would say, well, I don't follow man, nor do I obey men. I only follow and I only obey God. And that sounds spiritual, and yet it's not. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, we read that passage very clearly. regularly in our congregation. Verse number one, be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. And so here, Paul is saying, follow me, follow me. The example that I'm setting for you, the preaching that I am giving to you, the word of God that I'm expounding, follow me in that word as I follow Christ. And this is what I believe the Philippians were doing. As Paul commends them here for their obedience, they were following Paul as Paul was following Christ. Taking in the word and being obedient to it. But then he also commends them as well for their persistency. Notice he says that ye have always obeyed. They didn't pick and choose what biblical doctrine to obey and what not to obey. They didn't look down the 10 commandments as Paul would have been preaching them to them as Gentiles and saying, well, we like this commandment, but we don't like that commandment. No, they would have listened to the entirety of the word of God. In all that God required believers to believe and to do under the new covenant, and they were always obey. Always obey. There is a persistency in that. That as they would receive the word of God, they would bring their lives into conformity with that word. We are a people, and I believe it's common of many people, we don't like change. Especially the older that we get, we get ingrained into our lifestyle, we get ingrained into our beliefs, we get ingrained into our actions. And whenever something comes that causes us to change something in our lives, there can be that resistance. We then go and look for arguments against something that the preacher is preaching. Or we say, well, I don't I don't think about that or I don't want to do that. And there's a hesitancy. And yet here we have this example as the truth of God was being given, as the truth of God was being preached to them, they were just always obeying, always submitting to the word, the biblical truth that they had received. But then there was also a commendation of their consistency, their obedience, their persistency, but also now their consistency. Because notice what he says, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence. And he's commending them here because he's saying to them, listen, you have always obeyed You have been obedient, you have been persistent, but you haven't just been doing these things when I've been there. In fact, now that I'm not there and I'm not in your presence, you're actually pursuing these things even more. And so he's commending the believers here for the consistency of practice that there was. They weren't doing these things simply for the minister or for the pastor. They were living a life, they were serving, they were behaving like Christians, not to impress Paul, but to impress God. To do it for his glory and for honor. And here is something that in many ways, many of us are guilty of. that we will do things for other people, that we will behave, we will act, we will live in a certain way, we will even serve in a certain capacity to impress somebody else. There can be times whenever it's the common expectation, whenever the pastor perhaps goes away, and for some reason the church empties on the Sunday that the pastor's away, and there's always the comment, and this is through every church I believe, where did people go? And I believe that's a great concern. I believe that shows a lack of true spiritual religion in the heart of the believer. If it's the minister that you're coming to church for, then let me say to you, my friend, you have a very poor religion. If it's the pastor or the minister that is drawing you into the congregation and not the worship of God, my friend, that is entirely foolish because God sees the heart. God sees the heart. Oh, I pray that there would be consistency of obedience to the Word of God in the presence of those whom we respect and even in their absence, whether we be in public, whether we be in private, wherever we are, wherever we be, that there would be a consistency of life and of godliness in all that we would claim to be and to believe. But notice then, secondly, with me this morning, he gives to the Philippians an exhortation. And this is really the main thrust of what we want to get into. He has already commanded them that this sanctifying work that they were engaged in, it wasn't just something that they were beginning. It wasn't just something that Paul was coming along and saying, listen, you've dropped the ball in this area. No, they were always obedient. They were always obeying. They were already doing this, even in the absence of Paul. But now he continues on with a fresh exhortation to them. For he says then in verse 12, work out your own salvation. with fear and trembling." Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Now we need to look at this word firstly, salvation. Now we commonly use that word in our evangelical language and vocabulary with the definition that it speaks about our justification. And so whenever we speak about salvation, we're speaking, I believe, commonly about that one single aspect, that you're justified in the eyes of God, that your sins have been forgiven, that you're on your way to heaven, that you're saved from the wrath that is to come. And that's right, and that's proper, and that's accurate. However, the word salvation is a broad term. It doesn't just speak about that singular aspect of justification, although there's times when the word is used and only one aspect is being drawn out, just like we have in the passage before us this morning. But it's a word that encompasses our entire salvation. We are justified in the eyes of God, declared innocent before him. But our salvation and the benefits we receive continues on in the fact that we're adopted into the family of God. Our adoption is a part of our salvation. But then we also have our sanctification being made more in conformity to the image and to the likeness of Christ. That's also a part of our salvation because we're not just saved from the punishment of sin, we're saved from its power and dominion as well. And then we also have our glorification when we'll enter into that celestial state and we will enter into heaven and we will be truly transformed into his likeness. That's all a part of our salvation. And so when we understand that this is a broad term, we also recognize that this term can be used in just selecting one of these aspects. And so the question before us then in verse number 12 is, what aspect of salvation is Paul referencing when he says that we are to work it out? Well, let's go through it. Can he be talking about our justification? No. For what does it say in Titus chapter 3 in verse 5? Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he has saved us. Ephesians chapter 2 and the verse number 8 and 9, it is by grace you are saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And so the Bible is very clear that there is nothing of our works that we contribute to our justifications. We cannot be speaking of that aspect. But what about adoption? Well, the Bible says, let's just turn to one reference for time's sake for that, we'll turn to John. John chapter one. John chapter one in the verse number 12, it says, but as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And so how are we born again? We are born by the power of God entering into our hearts and into our lives. And how are we brought into the family of God? We are brought into the family of God by an act of God himself. He brings us in, he puts his spirit within us, and he crowns us as his children. So it cannot be adoption that it is speaking about. But what about glorification? Well, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and let's read together just the verse 50 and the verse number 51. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed." Here again, you'll notice the passive language in this. Paul is saying that the kingdom of God, this changing, this incorruption that he puts on in verse number 53, is something he inherits. It's not something that he has worked for. That's the idea of an inheritance. It's something he has received. And again, this change, it's passive language and so on. And so it cannot be speaking of our glorification. And we know this even by not just the scriptures, but by Christian experience as well. We recognize that there was nothing that we had done in our hearts and our lives in that time when we were born again. We realize even if we cannot put a particular time or day upon when we were born again, that whenever we received the assurance of our salvation, again, our works did not bring that assurance to us. We're always looking to Christ and what he has done. There was never a time when we did something that suddenly brought us into the family of God. We realize as we wait for that blessed hope, we are waiting for that day in which we will be glorified. However, there is an aspect within our salvation that we are exhorted to work in, and that is the work or the grace of sanctification. 1 Peter 1, verse 16, For commanded be ye holy, for I am holy, We read in the book of Hebrews chapter 12, Hebrews chapter 12 in the verse number 14, it says there, follow peace with all men and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. And so when Paul is writing here, work out your own salvation, I believe that he is referencing Specifically, the work of sanctification and the progress of holiness and godliness in the believer's life. Now the reason why he uses the word salvation is because all of our salvation is connected. As Paul would write in James chapter 2 about our justification, you declare your justification by your works. It's all connected. A justified man will be living as a sanctified person, will be progressing in sanctification. You don't get one without the other. This is an unbreakable chain from beginning to end. And so that is why he uses the word salvation. But before we go any further, it must be emphasized that we are only working out the reality of God's work in us. We are unable to make ourselves holy or pure or godly. It is the power of Christ's resurrection dwelling within us. that enables us to live as holy. And this is a point that must be emphasized, because there's a mindset that sometimes that we are saved by grace, but we are sanctified by law. Now my friend, the law has a place in the Christian's life. God's law has a binding standard upon you and I today, that we are to follow it in obedience to it. But merely keeping the law does not make you holy. It does not sanctify you. It does not make you holy. It does not increase the spiritual graces in your heart. It's only Christ can do that. And so as we think about sanctification and how we must work in our sanctification, that must always be in view, that we are only ever working out what has already been worked in. And we are only enabled to work out that sanctification because the power of Jesus Christ dwells within us. As Paul would write in Galatians chapter 2 and the verse number 20, He references there and he says, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Notice that word faith. How is Paul living his Christian life? He's living his Christian life by the continual exercise of faith in Christ. Yes, it was faith that brought us to Jesus Christ and justified us and forgave us of our sins and inequities. But faith didn't end there. We continue on looking to Christ and believing in him that he will sanctify us. So here today, we're going to see the cooperation of this work, that you and I are called to work, but it is only the working out of what has already been worked in by the grace of God in our lives. But how are we to work out our salvation? Well, let me read to you Romans chapter six, and this will be a longer reading, but it's probably the most applicable passage to us working out our sanctification working out holiness in our lives. Romans chapter 6 in the verse number 1 it says, What shall we then say? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid! How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, and that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin, for he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more, death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once. But in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin. but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lust thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead. and your members as instruments of righteousness onto God. Let me draw just two points here. I want you to again go back to this important truth that we are only sanctified through the working of Christ in our lives. Paul instructs here and he says, don't yield your members, your body parts, your instruments, your mind, any part of you as an instrument of unrighteousness. Don't let sin rule you in your body. But what does he base this on? He's basing it on the fact that these people are in union with Christ. that they are in a saving relationship with him. And being united to Christ, they have died onto sin, just as Christ has died. They were buried in that grave, and now they have come forth with newness of life, and they are living that life as a witness to the resurrection power of Christ. And it's through that that they're enabled to live in righteousness. It's through that power that they are enabled to die more and more onto sin. And so my friend, it is not as if Christ has justified you and then just slapped you in the back and sent you out into the world and said, go now and live holy. No, Christ has justified you and he is still with you, sanctifying you, cleansing you, bringing out that good work in your heart. As Paul would encourage the Philippians in Philippians 1 verse 6, he that hath begun a good work in you will perform it. He'll keep working in you until that day in which he comes again. But yet there is an aspect, a true aspect, in which we are to work in sanctification. Now I believe Romans tells us here what that work is. If we could narrow it down to one verse, it would be the verse 13. And there's two aspects to our work in sanctification that are both contained here in the verse number 13. And let me give you the theological terms and then I'll give you a simpler term. The first one is mortification. Mortification. And the second one is vivification. Vivification. Mortification and vivification. To mortify means to kill, to put to death. And vivification means to live on to. And we as Christians are to live on to righteousness. So these are the two aspects. As a Christian, you are called to work in your sanctification every single day with no retirement, with no day off, with no long weekend, with no respite. You are engaged in a holy war against your flesh. And in this war, you are to put to death sin and you are to live and practice righteousness. Paul would say in verse 13, neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. Put sin to death. Don't give in to it. Kill sin. As Paul would write again in Colossians chapter 3 and the verse number 5 where he would say, mortify therefore your members. Mortify the lusts of your flesh. Mortify your body. If a sinful thought comes in, put it to death. If there's a sinful action that you're tempted to perform, put it to death. We are to kill sin in our lives. Now to take this even further in a more practical direction, how do we kill sin? How do we kill sin? Every one of us here this morning wrestles and fights with sin. And it is true from Christian experience that there may be a sin that you will struggle with that I may not. maybe struggle with, but there'll be sins that I will struggle with more than what you will struggle with more. And there'll be common sins that we will all struggle with and so on. But how do we deal with sin? No matter what that sin is, whether it's lust, whether it's lies, whether it's Sabbath breaking, whether it's not putting God first and loving him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, whatever it may be, how do we kill sin? First of all, we kill sin by separating ourselves from it. We must kill all known sin in our lives. Matthew chapter 5, the Lord Jesus gives us the best instruction of how to deal with sin. Matthew chapter 5 in the verse number 29 to 30. Notice he says there, and if thy, let's read verse number 27, ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery, but I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath already committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee, for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee. For it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. The Lord Jesus Christ is employing the use of hyperbolic language here. We know that this is not a literal command to mutilate our bodies in any way. That would be a violation of the sixth commandment to preserve life and so on. Violation of the Old Testament commandments as well. He's using hyperbolic language and strong language at that. And he's saying whatever causes you to sin, cut it off. Cut it off. Don't try and change it. Don't try and just put up a little fence. Get rid of it. Get it out of your life. Whatever that temptation is, get away from it. Cut it off from you completely. There's a struggle with lying. Set a watch before your mouth. Wake up every day and pray, Lord, let me not lie. Not even in the smallest of degrees. Lord, make me conscious of every word that I speak, that it would not come out of my mouth and sin. It's a problem with lust, no matter what it is, cut it off. There's something that you're watching. Don't trifle with it. Don't say, well, I can get over this. No, get rid of it. Get rid of any exposure to it. Get rid of any opportunity to it. If you're in the workplace and there's somebody in that workplace and they're flirting with you, you cut it off. Don't try and be nice to the person. Don't try and be polite to the person. You just kill it there and then. Never trifle with sin in any way, no matter what sin it is. Never trifle with it. Kill it. Separate yourself from it completely. Now we know that there are times that although we try to separate ourselves from sin, yet sin will come to us. We think about Joseph back in the book of Genesis and how Joseph was seeking to live a godly life, working hard in Potiphar's house, laboring for him. And what happened to him? Potiphar's wife came. And so the second way in which we deal with sin is to flee, is to run from sin. Paul would write in 2 Timothy 2.22, flee youthful lusts and follow after righteousness. And so again we see the requirement in us if we are to mortify the flesh, we are to cut off any sin, we are to flee from sin, but not just that. We are to not just kill the act, but we are also called to kill the affection. It's easy in many ways, or I should say it's easier to kill the act. It's easier to set up boundaries. It's easier to cut things off and say, I'm not gonna give myself to that. It's easier to watch over these things, but it's a lot harder to kill the affection. Kill the affection. And yet we are called not to make a holy war just with our actions, we are called to make a holy war with our affections as well. And this is the wonderful thing of sanctification, as we work, God works in us as well. And God can truly sanctify you. God can change, and God can not just keep you from those sinful actions, but God can change your affections and bring you to a point where you actually hate that sin and loathe that sin that you previously used to engage in, indulge in, and love. He can so sanctify the human heart and the human mind as to bring us into a state of victory. Now, we will always be susceptible to sin. We will always have the old nature that is there and can rise up. But is it possible for a Christian to have victory over sin in their lives? I'm not talking here about sinless perfection. Absolutely not. But I'm talking here about sins that have warred against our flesh. Is it possible to live in a state of victory? Absolutely. Absolutely. No, my friend, this could only be done when we recognize that God is working in our sanctification, but we are called to work as well. But then we are also to live on to righteousness. Romans chapter six, verse number three, we have considered there mortification, but now vivification, we are to live on to righteousness. For Paul would write there in Romans chapter six, verse number three, find it there. Sorry, the verse number 13. But yield yourselves unto God as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. And so kill off this sin, kill off that practice, but now live on to God. Live on to him. My friend, you must give yourself to holy things. It is not enough for you simply to deny yourself the indulgences of the flesh. If you would be holy before God, you must practice righteousness. You must do the things that are holy, even in your life. Now, all of these things, let me remind you again, are only made effectual by the Holy Ghost. There are many today across this world that are not converted and they deny themselves these things. They deny themselves these sinful pleasures and they're not holy people. They don't possess true holiness. True holiness is only possible when there is the working of the Spirit of God in our heart, lifting us up higher, making us more in conformity to the image of Christ, increasing our love of holy things and increasing our hatred of things that are unholy. And there ought to be an increase. There ought to be a steady increase in holiness in the believer's life. But let me finish with this, and with this I close, the recognition of the divine work in sanctification. The recognition of the divine work in sanctification. If we were to simply end it at verse 12, Go believers, go now, work out your own salvation. And you were to go out into the world and you were to try and deny yourself the lusts of the flesh and you were to try and live on to righteousness. Guess what would happen? You would feel. You would absolutely and totally feel. The only thing that gives us great confidence today that our sanctification, although it's progressive, Although it takes time, although there will be times when we feel the only thing that gives us encouragement that there will be an onwards and upward trajectory of holiness in our Christian life is the fact of verse 13, for it is God which worketh in you. Go and work, believer. Go and labor in sanctification, knowing that your God is working in you. And here we see the cooperation that there is in our sanctification. Let me say again, there is never this type of language used in regards to our justification. for you can contribute nothing, no works or anything. But here we have this cooperation. Again, the language that theologians would commonly use, they would describe our justification as monergistic, as the sole work of God alone, but our sanctification as synergistic, in that there is a cooperation between us and God, a working together, in our lives. Alan Kearns said it is concerning sanctification. He said it is both a duty and a grace. Regeneration is the work of God solely and therefore it is a grace. In sanctification the believer cooperates with the Spirit of God in the use of the means provided and thus it is not only a grace of the Spirit but is also a duty of the Christian. So yes, sanctification is a work of God's free grace, but it is also a duty that you and I perform. But again, how is God then working in us? How does God work in us? And let me say this, God works in our lives to sanctify us, to make us more holy through just the common means of grace. the ordinary means of greece. He works through us through his word. John 17 verse 17, sanctify them through my truth, thy word is truth. He sanctifies us and works in us through prayer. Matthew 6 verse 13, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. He works in us as we gather around the Lord's supper, and as we receive the grace that is given through that supper. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, in the verse number 27 to 28. 1 Corinthians 11, the verse number 27. Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. There is grace that is given because there is an examination that is done. We examine our hearts for sin, for a lax in holiness, and we put it right. There's also the grace that God gives in scientification through church discipline. In verse number 32, but when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world. And so God even uses church discipline to correct people as a sanctifying grace upon their lives, to say to them, listen, you're going the wrong way, you're going the wrong direction, you're doing something wrong, or you're being banned or not permitted to come to the Lord's table. It's a warning to you that you're not in fellowship with God. And it's a grace in and of itself to sanctify you and to cleanse you. And so believer this morning, if you would be holy, if you would be sanctified, how ought you to live? You must bring yourself to the means of grace. And in bringing yourself to the means of grace, you are putting yourself under the working of the Spirit of God to take the means of grace and to work holiness and godliness in your life. My friend, a stable, steady diet. of the word, prayer, and sacraments will sanctify you and will make you more holy. Perhaps you're struggling with a sin this morning. And there are times whenever particular actions of sins can have practical advice in terms of how to deal with them. But in terms of sin, Whatever that sin may be, whether that sin is an action, whether that sin is an affection, how do you overcome it as a Christian? Through the word, through prayer, and through the sacraments. That's how you overcome it. That's how you become more godly. Let me save you a lot of money on your Christian counselors, that most of your problems are as a result of sin. Let me save you a lot of problem or a lot of money and time in terms of marriage counselors, because most of the problems in your marriage are a result of sin. And how do you overcome sin? You overcome it through the means of grace that God in Christ has provided. And the Spirit of God works in your heart, using these things to show you your sin, reprove you, draw you back, encourage you, build you up, to lead you out of it. This is how God works. And if you would be holy, this is how and what you must give yourself to, that the Spirit would work in your heart. And notice just in closing how God does this. It says, which worketh in you both to will, to bring you into conformity with his will, and to do of his own good pleasure. Why does God do this? Because he has his good pleasure by it. This is something that is an expression of the joy of God, that he sanctifies his people and he cleanses them. My friend, we as the Lord's people must give ourselves to the pursuit of holiness, not as a means to attain salvation, but as the express evidence of it. And I urge you today, pursue holiness and pursue godliness and pray for one another, that one another would have victory over sin and do war with sin and recognize the danger that sin presents for all of our problems. All of the afflictions that we have are all as a result of sin. If you would have a happy home, fight sin within your home. If you would have a happy marriage, fight sin in your marriage. If you would have a godly church and a godly life, fight sin within your heart and in your life. Have no peace with it. Do not make any truce with it, but fight it with everything you have. For my friend, as one of the Puritans said, be killing sin or sin will be killing you. I pray that God would give you the grace and that God would through this word give you an even greater burden to pursue the work of sanctification as God would work even in your life.