My foot of mine went to sleep right there. I was walking along there, but the ground wasn't under me. Well, it's good to be here tonight. It's good to have each one of you here, and we're excited. It brings a joy and a thrill to my heart when Jay and I don't talk about what's going to be sung, And the song that he picks, or I don't know who picks that, but Galatians 1, I think it was from Galatians 1 10. That last song is kind of based off of just living for the Lord and. Giving God my all, and it just fits perfectly with what we're going to talk about tonight and in Philippians will be in Philippians chapter two and kind of continue on with our study in the book of Philippians. We'll be looking at verses 12 through 18 tonight in Philippians chapter 2. We just looked at last week to have this attitude, which was also in Christ Jesus. who although he existed, and this is verse 5 and 6, who although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men, being found in the appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. And the point, the main point that we saw in those two verses is that no one humiliated Jesus, no one humbled Jesus, but it said he emptied himself and he humbled himself. He was in complete control till he took his last breath on the cross. God him in the flesh in control of everything that happened because he came for that very purpose to suffer that death for you and I. And so He emptied Himself, He humbled Himself, and He became obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. And for this reason, God highly exalted Him, or super exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee would bow, those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Jesus Christ, God's salvation, of the Anointed One, He's God, He's Yahweh. It's a grand statement of the deity of Christ. And He is God Almighty, and He is Jesus in the flesh Jesus meaning God's salvation, Christ that anointed one, his new name, his name above every name that one day all of us will stand before him and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, that Jesus Christ is Yahweh, that Jesus Christ is everything that he claimed to be while he was in the body and everything he always was from eternity past and everything that he always will be to eternity future. That's our God. For this reason, God exalted him, and he gave him a name above every name, and every tongue will confess that. So then, verse 12 is where we are tonight. So then, or therefore, therefore, we'll read through this tonight, verses 12 through 18. So then, my beloved, Just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who has that work in you, both to will and to work, for His good pleasure." And that could take us, that verse right there, I want to stop there for a second, that could take us right back to chapter 1 and verse 6, where Paul says, I am confident of this very thing, that He who began this good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Until Jesus returns, or until we go to meet Him one day when this life ends, and until that day, When this life for us is over, God's going to continue that work. And Paul says, I'm confident that he's going to continue this in you, that he has begun in you. So he says, and so then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed not only in my presence, but also now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it's God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling and disputing. so that you will prove yourself to be blameless and innocent children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and a perverse generation among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life so that in the day of Christ, I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice in service of your faith, I rejoice. and share my joy with you all. You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me. Father in heaven, we thank you for the reading of your word tonight, both from Pastor Bill and here as we read in Philippians. Your word is powerful and sharp and and and it's alive and we have it laying here in our laps before us tonight. And so, Lord, we just ask your blessing upon your word as it goes forth tonight. Ask that you teach us. Ask that we hear from you and Lord. Wherever we are. In our walk of faith, increase our faith. Wherever we are in our service to you or our dedication to you or are just wanting to know more of you, increase all of that. So teach us, we pray, and guide us as we think through these things tonight. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen and amen. The title of our sermon tonight is Experiential Responsibility. Experiential responsibility. We'll explain that a little more in case you're thinking, I've got to look those two words up. Experiential responsibility. And our theme being living as a child of God. Doing all for him. Helen, I have some friends and then last year. They had a baby. And we would go over to their house and spend some time with them, play some games and eat. And their house was neat and tidy. A baby changes everything. Now we go over there and there's a PlayStation in the middle of the living room and there's toys all around the edges of the living room. And there's things that you have to watch. You don't step on. And there's things that. You get down with, at least I do, and it's not easy for me to get down anymore with this leg, but you get down and you play with things that you haven't played with for a long time. Having a baby changes everything. Salvation. That day that you trusted Christ as your Savior, or I did, that is to change everything. It changes what we desire, it changes the way we think, and it changes the way we live, because we are now set apart, called by God, changed at that moment, to not live as we did before. So experientially, we need to live differently, and we have a responsibility to do that before the Lord. Because one day, we read that, didn't we? One day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess. Christ, your Lord, and I'm accountable to you and to you alone, God. And I have this experience of life now, living as a child of God, but I have an experience in life, and the things in life, I have a responsibility to live for you. And so our propositional statement, as I thought about that this week, the day of my salvation should affect change in the every day, after day, after day, after day, the rest of my life. as I live for Christ. So we want to look through this. We want to think about these things clearly because there's some things that can be taken and misunderstood here, but I hope that we can clear those up a little bit for us tonight. So we'll begin with verse 12. And Paul says, so then, or therefore, what we have just read, the example of Christ, have this attitude in yourself, which was also in Christ Jesus. Or we could even jump back to verse 20. 27 of chapter 1 where he says conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ So that whether I come and see you or whether I'm absent remain absent I will hear that you are what? Standing firm in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel In other words walking a life of faith walking a life that has the gospel Which is Christ at the center of my life. I And I do all things for him. And so he says, so then my beloved, my beloved, he he's talking to believers here in Philippi, my beloved, those ones that I love because God first loved you and now we are in the same family, my beloved. So he feels fondly about them, just as you have always obeyed. And he's talking about really back in chapter one, two, he says, I thank my God always in remembrance of you, always offering prayers with joy in my every prayer for you in view of your participation or fellowship, that word's koinonia, that fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. So they were partners in prayer, partners in financial support maybe, but partners in spirit around the gospel of Christ. And he thanked God for them and they were beloved to him. And he says, I know whether I'm with you or whether I'm not with you, you live a life of integrity because you live that life before God. And I think that's a good reminder to you and I today that every word you say, every thought we have, God knows and sees. And that's a great incentive just to know that God is always with me and wherever I go, God goes. And what I see, God's right there. And what I'm involved with, God's right there. I live in the life of integrity. So Paul says, whether I'm with you or whether I'm absent from you, I know that you continue on. So then, my beloved, just as I've always you've always obeyed in my presence, but much more in my absence, he says, I want you to go ahead and continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. This is our first point. Tonight in this message about living as a child of God, this is not synergy. It's not God does his part and I need to do my part and then I'll be saved. That's not what he's talking about here. In fact, where it says work out your salvation, that word in the Hebrew, the base of it means to cultivate. To cultivate your salvation, and I know a little bit about cultivating, because when I was in high school, I used to work for a farmer for a couple of summers. They'd get the corn or the beans planted and they'd start to come up. Maybe they'd be about that high out of the ground. And my boss would say, the guy that I was working for and say, we need to start cultivating that corn field or that bean field. And cultivating meant we would go out with a tractor and those beans would start to grow or that corn would start to grow, but the ground or the rain might've come and the ground was kind of hard. So we would work the ground up around it to open it up, to let the rain soak in around the roots better and to let air Get to the roots better and we would cultivate that. It was all it was all. If you ever cultivated like a 70 acre field, you'd never get to the last row, it seems like it's just a long, tedious job cultivating. It's some work. He says, work out your salvation, cultivate. Integrity and obedience, we cultivate those things begin there right where you are, cultivate obedience to God, a closer daily Walk with God. Cultivate that. How do we cultivate that? Well, you have your quiet time. Excuse me. My hearing aids, sometimes they're connected to my phone. If someone sends me a text, my hearing aids read me that text. So I was just listening to what message I just got. Anyway. We'll move on. Oh, if only I had Bluetooth to heaven so he could just send me some messages when I needed them. So anyway, where was I cultivating? OK, cultivating. We cultivate that that obedience to God in a commitment or a closer daily walk with God, that commitment to to read our Bible, to spend time in prayer. We cultivate that. And I want to tell you, it's It takes it takes a little bit of desire and determination and just steadfastness to do that. There are parts of the Bible I read through the Bible every year, and there are parts of the Bible with a lot of names that I can't pronounce. And sometimes you want to skip over those. But, you know, I was reminded a while back that God knows those names and he put them there for a purpose. And so I want to honor him by reading them. I want to honor him by reading them. It takes some cultivating to plow through that. But the commitment is there and the desire is there to be pleasing in all things, and so we make that closer daily walk and that commitment to walk in and cultivate that relationship with God. It means we take into account others. He's talked about that more important than ourselves. We want we want what God wants. As we cultivate that, as we get closer to God, God's desires and God's will for our life become our will as we cultivate that relationship with God. And that's no different than, that's why the marriage relationship is sometimes mirrored to our relationship with God, because that intimate closeness, it's a day-to-day, it's a day-to-day thing. It's a day-to-day closeness that you just get to know that partner, and you spend time with that partner, and you spend time with God. It's a little scary sometimes. I mentioned this in my Sunday school class a while back. It's a little scary sometimes. Helen and I have been married for going on 53 years now, and she just knows what I'm thinking before I say it, and it's scary sometimes. I'll say something, and she goes, I know you're going to, I know you don't. She goes, oh, yes, I do. And she's right. She just knows. It's because we cultivate that relationship. Cultivate that relationship with God. So many people miss that relationship, that closeness with God. We need to work at that a little bit. Cultivate the ground. Let the water and the spirit and the word wash over us. We're not working for salvation. But we're cultivating the salvation we have to a closer walk and a deeper experience with God. Cultivate that. It says, work out your salvation. And with fear and trembling, you know, there always needs to be that awe of who God is and what He means to us. Because we've already been told we'll stand before him one day and be responsible for every word we've said. We'll bow before him. And so there's that fear and trembling that we need to have before God. Not fear of him, but just, I think it's an honor, respect for his greatness. And so much in our society today takes his name so flippantly in vain. But we're to cultivate our relationship where we, in fear and trembling, love him, respect him, and are in awe of what he's accomplished for us and is continuing to accomplish in our lives. Cultivate that. You have a new life in Christ. Like the ground turned over, let God fill your life with himself. And we find him in the word and we find him in that quiet time in prayer and God places godly desires in us. God says, go. So we you know what he says, go, so we get up and go. Or he says, come and do this and we come and do that. And there's so there's such great there's such great blessings in that. Just this week, I did some chapels out of Lakewood Park and. I know Helen doesn't appreciate this because she likes to sleep in a little bit, but she goes with me. And when we're out there, they have they have they have chapel like at eight o'clock in the morning. They're barely at school and they're down in chapel. So we have to get up at six. She does not appreciate that. But what a blessing when God says, get up and go and you go. And I got to got to go there and talk to the kids, and afterwards, a little girl wanted to talk to me. And she's concerned about her friends who don't know Jesus as their savior. And she wanted to talk to me about how she could have a plan to better share her faith with them. She doesn't think their mom wants them to hear this, but she wants to tell them. And so I got to counsel her a little bit about some ideas and some verses she could use about how she could talk to her cousins about Jesus. And she was really concerned about that. You know, what a blessing, because God said, get up and go. We went up and went. Yeah, it was early, Helen, but there was a there was a blessing there for that. So we cultivate those things. And he says, work out your salvation in fear and trembling, for it's God who is at work in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. And it isn't that it isn't that we're robots, but it isn't that we're doing our part and God's doing his part. God does it all for it's God who is at work in you. Sovereignty. with a with an overseeing of all that goes on. And I like to put it this way. In fact, I wrote it my Bible. I think I read this somewhere in a commentary this week. God is the one who energizes us. We don't need a battery. We don't need to get plugged in at night to an electric outlet so that our car and us are both ready to go in the morning. God is the one that energizes us. And I think that I think that energy comes from God. revealing to us himself and his great love for us. And I think the more we we cultivate that thought of. Why would the God of heaven come to earth? To die for me. And you. Why would he humble himself and empty himself for us? You know what, because he chose to lavish upon us his great love. And it's God who energizes us and works in us and through us for his good pleasure and his is the best. His is that his plan is the best. And so he we cultivate that and God works and energizes us as we. Love him and serve him and have a desire to know more of him. Listen, in James, I think it's in James chapter four, it says. In verse eight of James chapter four, it says, draw near to God and he'll draw near to you. Cleanse your hands. You sinners and purify your hearts. You double minded be miserable and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. I think that's just being miserable over sin and over the things of this world and over the people that we love that are lost and just be miserable if you're in sin and weep. But but draw near to God and he'll draw near to you. And cultivate that relationship with him. Work on that a little bit and And it isn't out of it isn't out of I have to do this. It's out of I want to do this because God has placed that desire in us to want to do that. Secondly, after we cultivate that, I want to consider a few things, consider how we should how that just practically that experiential responsibility works out. And he says he goes on to tell us some things to consider. do all things without grumbling and disputing. And I was telling Helen this week that in the Greek word, the Greek word for that grumbling is Gugosman or something. I can probably pronounce it, but you say it three times in a row, Gugosman, Gugosman. It just sounds nasty. It just sounds like grumbling when you say it a few times in a row. Just stop, stop grumbling and and complaining or or he talks about stop grumbling and disputing or just trying to win an argument. So that first thing he says, you know, instead of those things, he says, consider how to, I think, consider how to live a life of gratitude. Consider how to live a life of gratitude, always thankful for all things. You know, you can grumble and you can grumble and gripe about a lot of things. in life. And don't we do that easily? You know, we were talking about that in Sunday school this morning. How many of you have had anybody complain about their job. And most of the class raised their hand. How many of you have heard people complain about the weather? Everybody raises their hand. How many of you had somebody complain about, you know, another driver on the road? We complain about all kinds of things, but there's so much we have to be thankful for. And he says not to be grumbling, not to be disputing. And, you know, people try to dispute and trying to prove their point or get a win. I wrote in my notes here, I don't need a win. I need God's will. I don't need a win, I need God's will in my life and following Him. So, a life of gratitude. And secondly, he says, so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent or harmless, so that you will prove yourself to be blameless and innocent, children of God, above reproach, no scandal or no charge can be brought against you. In the midst of a crooked and a perverse generation among whom you appear as lights in the world. How do you? How do you be a light in the world? And there's there's all kinds of it says right here, it's a perverse generation. I told Helen the other night, I said, you know, I think it's going to be within a year or so that we're not going to be able to watch anything on television. because I just don't think there's gonna be anything worth turning it on for. Live a life that is above reproach. Prove yourselves to be this. Consider how I can do this. So let's consider how to do that. How do we in this crooked and perverse generation live and appear as lights in the world? Well, live a life that testifies of your faith of God. Live a life that testifies of your faith in God. And what does that look like? Well, that looks like when things aren't going so well, Paul's been talking about this, even in persecutions, what are we? Joyous. Why are we joyous? Because God has taken care of our greatest problem, our sin. And we are promised a hope and an assurance of fellowship with him in heaven one day without sin's presence there. Live a life that shows that your faith in God is real, that you love Him despite what the culture is doing around you. You're not going to participate in that, but you are going to serve and follow God. And maybe that's being to church when everybody else is home. Maybe that is going and visiting a sick neighbor, even though you don't have to do that. All those type of things, living a life that is pleasing to God, thinking of others more than yourself is what he's mentioned already before. Not only looking out after your own interests, but looking out after the interests of others. Live a life that shows your faith in God and live a life that shows whose child you are. Whose child you are. You think about that. Do you know what your position is? I'll tell you what your position is in mind, too, if you've trusted Christ as your savior, you're a child of God. You're a child of the king. The king of the universe, the king of kings and lord of lords, the one that has a name above every name that everyone will bow to one day, you are his child. And he loves you with a love that's everlasting. And he has promised to you great and wonderful things that he will not fail to bring about. Live as that child in a perverse, in a crooked generation. Live above that crowd as a light that shines and points people to Jesus. Live a life in contrast to the culture around us. Live a life that knows God's word and shares God's word. You know, we talk to the kids all the time. We've been talking to them about this for weeks in ABC Kids Club. Your word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you. Oh, Lord, your word, I love and I meditate upon its precepts. Yeah, we preach that. And we know that, don't we? I hope you do that. And I challenge myself to do that, to remember, you know, we we don't just teach kids verses and expect them to recite it, I need to know it. And so live as a child of God and show that you are a child of God, but live a life in contrast to the culture and live a life that knows God's word and shares God's word, shares the truth of the gospel. Paul has talked about that in the very beginning. We already read that. He says, I thank my God for you and I pray for you with joy because of your participation, your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. So we share the good news of the gospel. Live a life as an example of God's light, looking anxiously, and I think looking anxiously for that light to return, for one day He will return. So live this life. Consider how we can do these things. Consider how we can live this life, a life of gratitude, a life of innocence, a life that's above reproach, a life that is, even though we're in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, We can appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life. That's that holding fast the word of life and holding clinging to the word and Memorizing the word and sharing the word of God, sharing the gospel message so that in the day of Christ, I will have reason to glory, Paul says, so that in the day when Christ returns, I'll have a reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. I think consider how you can, as Paul said earlier, not think about your own interests, but think about the interests of others. Think how you can pour Your energy and time and your prayers. Into someone. Into someone else. Into someone else's life. That's what I that's what I love about. Not that I don't love all of you, you're adults and older, but I love kids. I just love kids and their their energy, their excitement. Their joy. And they just they just energize me, too. And I think Paul talked like talking about that here. He says, I have a reason to glory if if one of those grows up and he's he's living, he turns to the Lord or he's starting to live. And I'll tell you today, there was there was a little one that got baptized today. He's my glory and that I haven't been running in vain, that I haven't been just spinning my wheels. that there is tangible results and fruit from that investment. And that's what Paul's saying here. He says, I don't want to feel like I've run in vain. Hold fast the word, share the word, and I'll have reason one day to glory. And you know what I think Paul's thinking about here? I'll have reason to glory. I think that glory he's thinking about in the joy in their unity and together is that one day we'll stand before that one that has the name above every name and we'll bow and say, Jesus, you did it all and you did this and we give you the glory. We trusted you, we fellowshiped with you every day, and we didn't spin our wheels, and you get the glory, God, for these that I brought with me to heaven. And here we are together because you did this, not me. Consider how we live a life like that. Consider how we cultivate those things and consider how we live a life that points others to the Lord Jesus Christ. And I would say at the end here, my time's already gone past a little bit, but we'll finish up quickly here. And he says here at the end, but even if I'm being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith and Paul, paints a picture here of the sacrificial system, and he says, even if I'm being poured out, and he was willing to do that. You know what I think as he thought of this? I think he said, even if I'm being poured out, I'm willing to empty myself. I'm willing to humble myself as Christ my Savior has done. Even if I'm being poured out as a drink offering, the sacrifice, upon the sacrifice of your service, of your faith, of the way you're living now, I rejoice. And I share my joy with you all. And I think he's like, he's like double dipping joy here. Double dipping joy. You ever, you know, you have them breadsticks and you're like, don't be double dipping on me now. I'll be dipping that breadstick after you bit it. Don't be doing that. But here it's okay. Double dip of joy. He says, I'm joyous, and you're joyous, and we're joyous. I want to share that joy and rejoice with you as you rejoice with me. And he says, you too, I urge you to rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me over people saved, over people serving. over people being sacrificed. He was willing to give his all for others. So, continue. A personal appeal he makes here. To serve others is more important than yourself. To live in joy, not complaining or grumbling. Together in unified fellowship, sharing joy over your salvation in Christ as part of the family of God. And I wanted to read part of John chapter 17 where Jesus talks about that prayer there, but we're not going to have time for that. But read John chapter 17, the Lord's high priestly prayer, how His prayer was for His disciples, His prayers was longing for that joy that they would have together when they were united together, when He was going to be back in heaven and receive His glory back, and they would participate in that glory, and He's praying for them, even though they're still here. He wants them protected, and He looks forward to that day in humble obedience, joy unspeakable, full of glory. And true joy is that God saved me. God is in me and God is with me. God can use me to serve and and uses me as a tool to save others. God has an eternal promise that will not fail. And he says, you too, I urge you rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me. So you and I have an experiential as we live this life of salvation in Christ out, we have an experiential responsibility. To cultivate it. To consider how we're walking each day, not grumbling, not griping. Holding fast the word of truth, living a life of innocence before God and before men. Living a life that is a light in this dark and decadent world, pointing people to Christ. Enjoy, enjoy, we continue on, we continue on. May we do that together in unity in the body of Christ and double-dip the joy together. Father in heaven, we thank you for this time tonight. Thank you for your Word. Thank you for the message of just Faith in You and the responsibility we have, yes. But Lord, You have begun the work in us. You will finish the work in us. But Lord, we love You so much and we want to cultivate. We want to consider these things and continue on. living for you, living a life for Jesus because you have saved us out of your grace. You have called us by your power and you will take us home by your great power and mercy. And we've been forgiven. What greater joy do we have than we are in this fellowship with you and with one another around you? And so we thank you tonight, and thank you for each one that's come out. Lord, bless us as we go home. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.