For the preaching of God's holy words, please turn in your Bibles to the book of Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2 and verses 12 and 13. Philippians chapter 2 and verses 12 and 13. This is not human literature, but the word of the living and true God. Therefore, my beloved, as you 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 who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure. Congregation, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Amen, let us pray. Divine God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we come to you in the great and glorious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we ask you, O Lord, to bring your Word to us, though through an incomplete and very much fallible instrument, but may it yet be the Word of our God. O Lord, bless your people. Give anyone what they stand in need of. Help us, O Lord, and guide us for the glory of Your name and for the well-being of Your church. We pray this in Jesus' most precious name. Amen. Beloved congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, dear children, in chapter 1 of Philippians, Paul, in a very friendly way, turned the tables as we speak on the Philippians. And he did it in this way. While they were worried about him being imprisoned in Rome, he actually encouraged them. And he taught them and us a powerful lesson, namely to relate all possible circumstances that would ever befall us to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the furtherance of his kingdom. Only then will we gain the proper perspective and be able to deal with difficult circumstances. Now after this, Paul turned to the topic that he wanted to address all along, and that is Christian unity. And although the Philippian church was an exemplary church, it was a good church, and Paul loved them dearly, there were some problems, there were some conflicts brewing. And Paul wants to deal with these problems. He wants the Philippians to deal with these conflicts. He wants the Philippians' conduct to be worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for them not only to believe in Him, but also to live according to His will. And if they do that, it will lead almost automatically to Christian unity in the church. And just to be sure, he's not talking about any shallow form of unity in the way as the world teaches us, just to say, let's just all get along, regardless of doctrine, regardless of our lives. But he means a unity in truth. They must be on the same page. And it must be the pages of the Bible in which Christ is presented to us. And therefore, he wants a unity in Christ. Paul also reminded the Philippians and us that suffering for Christ is a privilege. As he says in verse 29 of chapter 1, for you it has been granted on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake. And then in the beginning of chapter 2, we receive the three ingredients for unity among Christians. Oneness, humility, and deference. Oneness, humility, and deference, or self-forgetfulness. When a congregation truly pursues these virtues, she will prevail against all disunity, against all hostility and against all persecution. And then last time our eyes were lifted up to the source of all unity, Jesus Christ, whose humble mind in the incarnation must be our example as well. The one who made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of a man. We must become like Him. We must, as we say today, but very fittingly, we must get over ourselves. And we must become like Jesus Christ, and we must give ourselves to God first, and then to God's people, and not take ourselves so, so importantly. And that leads us to our text for tonight, which in the history of the church has unnecessarily troubled many a tender soul. Still referring to the mind of Christ with His unprecedented love and humility, Paul addresses the Philippians directly, beginning once again with the word, therefore. And we talked about this word, therefore. The word, therefore, is always a strong signal that now he's referring back to something he has said before. He used the same word in verse 9 to show Christ's ministry of voluntary and willing humiliation as the reason for His exaltation. When He writes, after He explains Christ's ministry of humiliation, He writes, This is the reason what we just talked about. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." He's telling us because Christ has humbled Himself so utterly for our sakes, because He has finished His ministry of humiliation, therefore He's now being exalted. The principle here is exaltation after self-humiliation. This is a biblical principle. It's also mentioned in texts like James chapter 4, verse 10. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. If this would be realized in our midst as the church of Jesus Christ, that we humble ourselves, there would be no ongoing conflicts in the church. There would be no bitterness. There would be no hostility. There would be no constant criticism. There would be no snide comments because we would take ourselves out of the picture, off the stage. We want to be on the stage. We constantly want to be applauded. We want to be honored. But Christ says, no, you have to get off the stage. Don't seek your applause. Don't seek people patting you on the shoulder. take yourself out of the picture and honor your neighbor higher than yourselves. Then all the bickering and all the intrigue and all the fights in churches would be immediately over. And we would all lift our heads unto the one who made himself of no reputation, but took the form of a bondservant, the one who lowered himself, the one who was everything and became nothing for us. How stupid do we look! How stupid do we look when the God of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things, humbles Himself and makes Himself nothing. And we insist, we sinners who have nothing, nothing, nothing to show forth for our salvation, we insist on being honored. How stupid, how unbelievably stupid that is. And yet that's what we do. in two decades of ministry that I got to tell you, and I'm sure Pastor Ed can tell you also many examples. This is the cause for most of our quarrels. We want to be honored. We want to be right. We want to be respected. We want to be applauded. And if we don't get the honor that we think we deserve, we get really ugly sometimes. This is no way for the children of God to live with each other, no way at all. This is the context for our text this evening, which begins at verse 12. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, But now, how 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 do for his good pleasure. Now, as I mentioned before, this text has troubled many a tender soul in the history of the Christian church. but unnecessarily so, because whatever it is that verse 12 turns out to mean, it finds its engine, it finds its root, it finds its reason in the accomplished work of Christ and not in yours. The word, therefore, refers back to the accomplished work of Christ. Paul has just showed us how low Christ has become for our sakes, how he made himself of no reputation, how he humbled himself becoming obedient to the point of death, and now he says, therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, now work out Your salvation with fear and trembling. So whatever Paul wants the Philippians to do or to know or to apply, it finds its reason and power in the accomplished work of Christ and not in our own strength. So what does it mean to work out our salvation with fear and trembling? Well, as good Protestants, we get very uneasy and even allergic to the words work and salvation in the same sentence. And rightly so. Under normal circumstances, those two should not be too close together unless they are being connected or differentiated by strong adversarial conjunctive or some phrase that says not or but. But here they are together. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. The fear and trembling doesn't make it any easier either, does it? The key here lies in the use of the verb work. It doesn't say work for your salvation, but work out your salvation. It does not mean that you need to do good works in order to be saved, or to earn, or to keep salvation. No, it means that we ought to live in line with our fully accomplished salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. It means that what happened in our justification now has to play out in our sanctification, in our lives, in our day-to-day living. Remember, there was some conflict brewing in the Philippian church, and Paul wants it resolved. God wants it resolved. And Paul painted before them the picture of the humble Christ. And now he tells them, you live accordingly. He says, it doesn't matter whether I'm here or there, whether I look over your shoulder or not, Christ has given you an example which you must follow. And then you will be able to achieve unity in the church. You see, the Philippians have all they need to resolve their conflicts in the God-honoring way. But this goes much further. This is not only for conflict. This is Christ's demand for the whole of the Christian life. So many in the church think that salvation is an end in itself just to make us happy. But life is about so much more than just simple happiness. We have been saved for a purpose, to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. That's what we were made for. That's what we were saved for. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10, For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for what? For good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. As Protestants, we come dangerously close to denying good works altogether because we're so afraid that we would factor them into our salvation where they have no place whatsoever if they're not the good works of Christ. But we throw the baby out, we pour the baby out with the bath water. We tend to eliminate the necessity for good works also from life of a safe person, from sanctification. And that is as wrong as can be. And if it's only for that reason that we now have a new root, and if you have a new root, you will have new fruit. It is impossible to have Christ as a root and the devil as fruit. And that's one of the things that really bothers me when, as a pastor, I try to speak with people about their sinful behavior or about something that they need to change or take care of in their lives. They say, pastor, you do not know my heart. And I say, that's a lie. I know your heart. You know how I know it. I know it by your words. The fruit will represent the root. You can play games for a while, but ultimately you will show yourself as who you are. Your life will represent what's in your heart. And this way we can read, and not only pastors and elders, but every other Christian with open eyes can read your heart through your works. And a Christian is a person that understands that he has been created and redeemed for the glory of God. There is this false gospel in the midst of even conservative churches that tends to think the whole universe is all about us and our happiness. This is such a myopic view of reality. Just for me to be happy, really, that's what the universe is about? You know what? A God like this, I can't respect. It's only about me. It's like almost a needy God who needs to see me happy. It's not about us. It's about the glory of God. And we were created in a way that the only thing that makes us really happy, because it's fair enough to say we want to be happy. There's no sin in that. It becomes sin when you say at any price. There's no sin in trying to be happy. It's given us to... we want to live joyfully. But God has set us up. He has made us in a way that the only way we can be happy is if we give ourselves. That's the opposite of what the world tells us. The world tells us, look out for number one, take as much as you can and you'll be happy. And then you see how happy this world is. The pharmaceutical corporations make record earnings with psychopharmaceutical drugs because people are so happy. You were made to give and now you take. How can you ever believe that that's the way you should live? You want to be really happy? Fair enough. Give yourself for the God who made you because that's what you were made for. To glorify God and to find your joy in Him. forever, not in those timely things of the world that can be taken away tomorrow. Ask the people of Ukraine, ask the people of Syria or Afghanistan. You know, today you have, tomorrow it's gone. Do you really want to build your life on shallow things? Some of us might have cancer and don't even know about it. And here we are still trying to be happy here and now. We're trying to do your best life now game while we should plan on eternity, while we should give ourselves and whatever befalls us, we should say, as long as it glorifies you, O living and true God, I'll be joyful and God will make you joyful. Romans 11.36, This is the hardest thing in this town, honestly, to sell. The hardest thing. that you live for God, that you were made for Him, that it is not important what camper you have or where you go fishing or hunting or what your next vacation is going to be or how much time you spend in Florida. That's nothing. Nobody will remember that, that the only important thing is the glory of God. Nothing else will make you happy. Nothing else will fill you with the joy that you should have, that God wants you to have in Him. And not in a cheap substitute. I wish I myself had learned that earlier. I remember a specific walk I took with a friend of mine many, many years ago. And I... Some things you remember for a reason. And I was telling him and I said, God is only happy when I'm happy. You know, that's God's biggest goal to make us happy. What a heresy. What a blasphemy. That's not the God of the Bible. That is me as God. I'm even ashamed of telling you this, but for some reason I must have remembered it, might as well share it. But that's exactly what Romans 12 teaches us. Remember, when we talked about Romans 12 a couple of weeks ago, we talked about 11 chapters of Romans, only explaining the gospel, only explaining the grace of God, how it saves us in our lost estate by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. And then in chapter 12, the watershed, therefore, And now we listen and say, wow, we heard 11 chapters of this wonderful rich gift of the grace of God, the God whom we hated, but who nevertheless loved us and saved us. And then it says, I beseech you therefore, by the mercies of God, He says again, in light of the grace that you've seen, that you present your bodies, which means your whole life as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. You could say, this is your life. But for many Christians, Romans is over after chapter 11, because they just want to receive, they don't want to do. And they make God, in our Western society, as what they make of everything else, a consumer good. I consume God. He can give me, but He cannot take. And then hardship comes and then we read books like, Oh, when you're angry with God. Angry with God? Have we lost it? What right do we have in this world other than going to eternal condemnation? Everything above that is grace, is a privilege, is a gift, and we're angry at God? That's a person who does not understand who God is. Because of the gospel, grace, We must live according to this gospel. Gratitude, that's the key. So there's really no need to be scared of the text before us, as it doesn't teach any form of works righteousness, but it teaches every form of gratitude. It does teach good works, but not good works in order to get saved by them, but good works because we have been saved by grace alone. You see, it works like this. We're a bunch of sinners, right? And God comes to us and says, you, you, you, you, you are saved for eternal life. Out of the darkness of the abyss. And here is how it should work. And we realize what we have been saved from. And we say, but Lord, why me? And He says, because I love you. But Lord, Why do you love me? Because I have decided to love you. But Lord, you don't understand. He said, God, you don't understand. Why do you decide to love me? And he said, no, you do not understand. Love has no reason. True love is sovereign. Because otherwise it's a deal, right? You're nice, I love you. Now we're ugly and He loves us. Now the next thing is, we get to begin to understand it and then we say, but Lord, how do I deserve that? And He says, not at all. But then comes the important question. A question to which many Christians never break through. How can I ever be grateful to You? And then He says, John 14, 15, if you love Me, keep My commandments. That's the place of good works. This is what Paul is talking about. Not work for your salvation, but work because of your salvation. Not works of fear, not works of being afraid to be lost again, but works because that fear is gone. Somebody comes to you with a big suitcase of money and just gives it to you, you say, okay, thanks, duly noted, bye. You need this money, you have debt, you have a crisis, you have medical bills, and he just gives you that money. Will you just say duly noted? No. You will hug, you will say, come in, wife, bring the best food that we have in the house. Let us show our gratitude to Him. And we do that among each other, which is right, but we ought to do it so much more for God. That's how you ignite your Christian life. You look at the cross and you understand what you've been saved from. I'll tell you a little example that happened to me. I've told this story many times. If you have heard it, I apologize. It's just such a good example, which I did not produce. It happened to me in God's providence. Many moons ago in my old life when I became a jet pilot, an airline pilot, and I had my commercial flight exam. And I was sitting in the cockpit, and the instructor was sitting beside me with his knee board and all his documents that he has to check if I could do everything rightly. And boy, I was just turned 20 or 21. I was one of the youngest to ever sit for that flight exam, and I was scared to death. And he, of course, realized that. He was an old fox. Never forget him. And he said, you know what? Here is the signature that you passed. I checked the box that you passed. I sign it right now. The engines weren't even on yet. Pre-flight check wasn't done. I was just sitting there trembling. So, he signs it, he checks the box and says, now you show me a nice examination flight. I'm telling you, that was the best flight up to that time I ever made. You know why? I was absolutely relaxed because I knew I had passed. That's the gospel. That's the Christian life. Stop fearing that he will throw you into hell after all because he's a trickster. Because he's not! He has signed that you have passed with His own blood, redeemed. And now you show Him a good life, not out of fear, but out of gratitude. Of course, there remains one question now. What does He mean when He adds with fear and trembling? So is it just contradicting what I just said? Is the Christian life supposed to be a life of anxiety or even desperation? Sadly, I know many true Christians who live like that because they have exactly that fear. Not good enough. not holy enough, not repentant enough. But this is not what it means. Far from it. As I said a few moments ago, Paul is not referring to justification, not to us getting saved, but he's talking about sanctification, about the Christian life, the life of gratitude. He reminds the Philippian saints of who they are and of what they have freely received from God. Freely. And now he says, live accordingly. Not in a half-hearted way, but wholeheartedly. Not selfishly, but for the glory of God. Being afraid to offend Him who loved you first. That's the fear and the trembling. Not sinning in a cavalier way, but being fearful and trembling to offend the One who gave us everything. Not self-righteously, but humble, fearing to bring dishonor to the name of Christ, fearing to offend His name. That's what with fear and trembling means, that it is not a game. The Christian life is not a game, but that we should take our walk with God seriously. And all this is only possible because it is God who works in us. both to will and to work for His good pleasure. You see, He says it here. It's not about salvation. It's not about your own strength. God does it. Therefore, you have to do it. This reminder here is key because we cannot do this on our own strength. We must live close to Christ, as He says in John 15, I am divine. You are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit. For without me you can do nothing." Of course you have experienced this many times in your life. Trying to do things on your own and you constantly fail. We must live close to Christ. We have to bear fruit. And in order to do this, we need to live closely to Him, which means we need to live in the Word. We need to live in prayer. We need to fill our minds with the things of God and be always eager not to pursue our own selfish interests and selfish desires, but the glory of God. That's the way to live in close to your God. to once look away from ourselves and unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. We must take our walk with Christ seriously, and this is what it means, to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. In Him do we trust. In Him lies our hope. In Him will we be carried through all the way through the end. Now let us live accordingly by the grace of God and for his glory. Amen and amen. Let us pray. Our Lord and our God, oh how we thank you for your word that has so much encouragement for us. And it's so little that we understand so often and so little that we apply. We ask you, Holy Spirit, whether we be young or old, Fill us afresh. Give us this joy in Thy salvation. And let us walk for the glory of our God and for the well-being of my neighbor from now on, completely afresh. Awaken us, strengthen us, and guide us, and protect us. And as we address You, O Lord, we ask You also for tomorrow, for that important day, and for our new old president, and for the incoming administration, O Lord, we know so well that our hope does not lie in princes, but in the Lord our God. But use them, O Lord. Use them for the glory of your name and for the blessing of your church. We ask this in Jesus' most precious name. And all of God's people said,