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Good morning, everyone. We'll
be continuing our study through Philippians. This morning will
be Philippians chapter 2, verses 12 and 13. We'll be looking at
the believer's sanctification. Philippians 2, 12 and 13. 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
is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Let's open a word of prayer.
Father God, we come to you this morning, Lord, and we ask that
you would take these truths, Lord, and apply them to our heart.
It's a very important subject of sanctification, that we would
understand it as much as we can, but more than that, that we would
live up to it and indeed work to further our sanctification
process along. Again, Lord, we just thank you
for this opportunity of meeting here together. In Jesus' name,
amen. Now, salvation itself is seen
in three phases. We've got justification, sanctification,
and glorification. I want to look at those quickly
just to set the context for sanctification itself. Now, the phase one is
justification. And justification or justify
is a legal term declaring one as being not guilty. Now this
takes place at the point of salvation or conversion. Now let's turn
to Romans chapter 3 verse 20, get a look at that. I just want
to make sure we have a good understanding of what we're talking about here.
I know most of you have heard this before, but just to get
the context set for the this morning's lesson. Now after Paul explained in Romans
1.18 all the way through 3.20 that no one will ever make themselves righteous enough
before God to enter heaven. I mean, that's a long, when you
say from Romans 1.18 all the way through the bulk of chapter
3, first three chapters of the book of Romans is explaining
to us why no one on their own is ever going to be saved. Not
going to be able to do it. Won't do it, never happen. Now,
we get to 3.20 and I'll pick it up there and we'll move on
to 26, which says, because by the works of the law, no flesh
will be justified in his sight, for through the law comes the
knowledge of sin. And that was true, that was the
law. The law was never set up to save anybody. The purpose
of the law was to show everybody that you're sinful, and you're
never going to be able to keep the law, because in order to
be saved through the law, you had to keep it 100%. Nobody ever
did, except one, the man Jesus Christ. That's it. Now, verse
21, but now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has
been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. Even the righteousness of God
through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe, for
there is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God. being justified as a gift by
his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus whom
God displayed publicly as a propitiation in his blood through faith that
this was to demonstrate his righteousness because in the forbearance of
God he passed over the sins previously committed. for the demonstration,
I say, of his righteousness at the present time that he might
be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."
Okay, again, faith, gift, justification, gift, Nobody worked for it, that's
a gift. It's by faith, not works. Romans
5 verse 6, this is why we were still helpless at the right time. Christ died for the ungodly,
for one will hardly die for a righteous man. Though perhaps for the good
man, someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates
his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us. Much more than having now been
justified by his blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God
through him. And it goes on to say in verse
17 of Romans 5, he says, for it is by the transgression of
the one It's comparing Jesus to Adam. For the transgression
by the one, death reigned through one. Much more, those who receive
the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign
in life through the one, Jesus Christ. So then, as though one
transgression there resulted in condemnation to all men, even
so, Through one act of righteousness, there resulted justification
of life to all men. For as through the one man's
disobedience, the many were made sinners, even so, through the
obedience of the one, the many will be made righteous." Okay,
and that's it, righteous. It comes through, that's justification. It's a work of God. Now, That's
phase one of the salvation. It happens right at the point
of conversion, among other things. And then the next phase would
be sanctification. Now, sanctification is a progressive
work that begins at conversion and continues throughout our
entire lives. It's a work in which both the
believer and God are involved. Okay, we saw that in Philippians,
and I'll read it again, Philippians 2, 12 to 13, you know. So then my beloved, just as you
have always obeyed and not as in my presence only, but now
much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trebling. And then verse 13 says, for it
is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for
his good pleasure." So both parties are on. Now, the sanctification
process, again, is to grow in Christ, mature in our faith,
and walk with the Lord as we move through our life. Matter
of fact, if you're still in Romans 6, 11 says, well, 11 through
23, it says, even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin,
but alive to God in Christ. Therefore, do not let sin reign
in your mortal body, that you should obey its lusts. And do
not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments
of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those alive
from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness
of God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are
not under the law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin
because we are no longer under the law but under grace? May
it never be. In that term, may it never be,
Paul throughout Romans asks a number of hypothetical questions. almost
in anticipation of somebody going, well, wait a minute. You talk
about this grace, and they think, isn't that just giving everybody
a license to steal, so to speak? And he asked those questions,
and then he answers, may it never be. That's a very strong term.
That's a very strong term, meaning absolutely not, okay, in the
Greek. That's what it's trying to say
there. Do you, verse 16, do you not know that when you present
yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves
of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death or
of obedience resulting in righteousness. But thanks be to God that though
you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that
form of teaching to which you were committed. And it just keeps
going, you can keep going on to the end of the chapter. and
we're not going to do that for the sake of time. But now the
word sanctification itself, we can stay in Romans for a while,
but sanctification, hagiosmos, means holiness or the state of
purity. So the sanctification process,
and it is a process, it's going to take us our entire life. All
right, it's going to take our, it's a lifelong work. Now, hagiosmos
again is the word, and it translates literally holiness. Now, a word
that we're familiar with, saint, is a related word, hagios, which
means pure and blameless. Okay, and the word hagios that's
used of the saint is also the same word translated holy, as
in Holy Spirit. Okay, so let's look at it, and
we don't have time yet, but our position in Christ, we stand
before him holy, even though, practically speaking, we're not.
Okay, and so, again, it goes back to a word that we read back
in Romans 3, that he was our propitiation. That means Christ's
sacrifice, paid, the required debt of a just and holy God for
our sin. That is why we can stand here
and say we're holy, because not only on that cross was our sin
imputed to him, but his righteousness was in turn imputed to us. I mean, that's a magnificent
thought when you stop and think about it. Remember 2 Corinthians
5.21? The imputation, tremendous doctrine. Romans 12, verse 1 and 2, Romans
12, 1 and 2, after 11 chapters, of pretty hardcore doctrine. We now get to the application
section of Romans, and he starts out this way. I urge you, brethren,
by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy
sacrifice to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind that you may prove what the will of
God is. That that which is good and acceptable
and perfect, right there is a practical definition of what sanctification
is. And it's really, it's the renewing
of our mind, verse two, and do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove
what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable
and perfect. That's the process we're going
through. That describes it right there. That's what we're trying
to accomplish. And a matter of fact, for the true believer,
that will be accomplished. We will see improvement, not
perfection, but we will see the improvement as we move through
life. Now, from the rest of that chapter,
Romans 3 to 21 is what this, and I'd like, I really would
like to read that because it's important, and this is what the
sanctification process actually looks like, okay? Verse three,
for through the grace given to me, I say to every man among
you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think,
but to think so as to have sound judgment as God has allotted
to each a measure of faith. For just as we were, for just
as we have had many members in one body and all the members
do not have the same function, so we who are many are one body
in Christ. and individually members one
of another. And since we have the gifts that
differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise
them accordingly, if prophecy, according to the proportion of
his faith, if service in his serving, or if he has teaching
in his teaching, or he who exhorts in his exhortation, He who gives
with liberality, he who leads with diligence, he who shows
mercy with cheerfulness, let love be without hypocrisy, abhor
that which is evil, cling to what is good, be devoted to one
another in brotherly love, give preference to one another in
honor, not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit,
serving the Lord, rejoice in hope, persevering in tribulation,
devoted to prayer. contributing to the needs of
the saints, practicing hospitality, bless those who persecute you,
bless and curse not, rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep
with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one
another. Do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the
lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil to anyone.
Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible,
so far it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never
take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath
of God, for his written vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the
Lord. But if your enemy is hungry,
feed him. And if he is thirsty, give him
a drink. For in so doing, you will heap burning coals upon
his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with
good. We'll have to get into that burning
coals thing one of these days. But that is really, I mean you
could read through Romans 12 As a devotional speaker, what
do I need to do today? It's in here. It's in here somewhere.
It's in here. And just briefly, I want to deal
with, because it's the phase three of our salvation, is glorification.
I just want to touch on that just to wrap up the bundle, so
to speak. Now, glorification is that final
step in the redemptive process. That's the one, the older we
get, the more we look forward to it, okay? That's the one,
well, 1 Corinthians 15, that's 1 Corinthians 15, we're in Romans,
it's right next door. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and
we're, verse 51, that's the, often called
the great resurrection passage. 1 Corinthians 15, beginning at
verse 51 through, we'll go through 58. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. We'll
all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the
last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and
the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed. For
this perishable must put on the imperishable and the mortal must
put on immortality. But when this perishable will
have put on the imperishable and the mortal will have put
on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written,
death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting?
The sting of death is sin. and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work
of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord."
Verse 58. is telling us, until that day
happens, verse 58 is getting us back to this sanctification
process. In the meantime, this is what we need to do. Verse
58, therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil
is not in vain in the Lord. Keep working. Keep working. Don't,
you know, get in your pajamas, sit on the roof and wait for
it. Just, no, just keep working. Keep working. Keep working. We
had a little conversation this morning in the Sunday school
room, you know, talking about, you know, the Lord's coming and
taking away and getting out of this and people setting dates
and all that sort of thing. That date is set out there. It's coming. We can't speed it
up. We can't put it back. It's coming. It's on His time.
But in the meantime, it says here, be steadfast, be immovable,
abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil
is not in vain. And know that, too. Know that
the work you do here is not in vain. It's not for nothing. Great
grammar there, but it's not. It has a result. It is right. Philippians 2.12, let's go back
there. Philippians 2.12. Now we're gonna see, per Philippians,
the believer's role in sanctification. Remember, it's got two sections
today. The believer's role, verse 12.
God's role, verse 13. Okay, the believer's role, now
I see three exhortations seen here in verse 12. The first one
is, follow the example of Christ. And I'm gonna read verse 12 again.
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 own salvation with fear and trembling. The first one. Follow the example of Christ.
Well, where do you see that? I see that right there in those
first two words, so then. So then is like a therefore.
And so then ties back to what was just said about so then refers
back to the example of Jesus Christ as the perfect model of
humility, submission, and obedience. Verse 5 through 8, let's read
that again. He existed in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but
emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made
in the likeness of men, and being found in the appearance as a
man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross. And it goes on to say here, therefore
also God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which
is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under
the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory of God the Father. So based upon all this,
he says, so then, my beloved, so then, One of the very notable
realities of the Incarnation, when Christ came to this earth,
is the fact that Jesus did everything he did by the power of the Holy
Spirit. He submitted to the power of
the Holy Spirit. Yes, he had the power, but he
submitted to the power of the Holy Spirit. And he kept, remember,
speaking to the Father, you know, the Father's greater than I.
Well, that speaks of his submissive state at that point. It doesn't
refer to his person. Because remember, when he came
to this earth, he did not give up any of his deity. He was 100%
God. as he walked on this earth. 100% God. But some of the prerogatives
of Deity he put aside. And one of them was he followed
the lead of the Holy Spirit. Look at the Gospel of Luke chapter
4. It shows in Luke, Gospel of Luke chapter 4. One, where very early on, now
here is very early on in the ministry, the baptism has happened,
and now Jesus is going into the wilderness to be tempted. Luke
4.1 says this, and Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned
from the Jordan and was led about by the Spirit in the wilderness. And then you jump to verse 14
of Luke 4, And now, Jesus is beginning his
public ministry, and verse 14 says, And Jesus returned to Galilee
in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread throughout
all the surrounding district. And he began teaching in their
synagogue and was praised by all. And he came to Nazareth,
where he had been brought up and was his custom. He entered
the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read. And the
book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him, and he opened
the book and found the place where it is written, The Spirit
of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release
to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set
free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year
of the Lord. And he closed the book, gave
it back to the attendant, sat down, and the eyes of all the
synagogue were fixed upon him, and began to say to them, today,
this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. Interesting,
great passage. Again, this is important to note,
and a little side note. We're so close, let's look at
Mark chapter three, A passage that is often misunderstood,
and it's in the three synoptics anyway. Mark 3.22.30, this is the situation
where we have that sin that is commonly called the unpardonable
sin. And the scribes who came down
from Jerusalem were saying, he is possessed by Beelzebul, and
he casts out demons by the ruler of demons. Beelzebul, some translators
might say Beelzebub. Okay, basically that's a term that goes back to the Lord
of the Flies, Lord of the Dunghill, that very nice classy title,
right? Anyway, and he called them to
himself, that's Jesus, and began speaking to them in parables.
How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom is divided against
itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against
itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has
risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand up,
but he is finished. But no one can enter the strongman's
house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strongman,
and then he will plunder the house. Truly I say to you, all
sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whoever blasphemes,
they utter. But whoever blasphemes against
the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin. because because they were saying
he has an unclean spirit. That sin is a very unique sin. I don't believe really that sin
can be even be committed today. For those people that were witnessing
Jesus doing those miracles that only somebody empowered by God
could do, and then speaking what he spoke, doing what he did,
all by the power of the Holy Spirit, and then to say that
Holy Spirit is Satan? That's the conclusion you come
to? They basically expose their position as being gone. lost. They were in an unsavable
condition. That's the sin, to see everything
Jesus did, and then your final analysis of that is, all these
works, he raised the dead, he healed the sick, he did all that
by the power of Satan? Oh really? You're toast. You're done. That's it. You've committed that
sin. That's it. You can't come back. They hit that point of no return. Okay? And like I say, Jesus not
walking the earth, Jesus not doing those, doing what he did. I know some try to say, in certain
movements that say miracles are here today and they claim to
be miracle workers, they pull this passage out and say, you're
doing it above it. No, that's not even close. This one is specific
to Jesus himself doing what he did. And then them coming to
conclusion, you're doing it by Satan's power. Okay. I mean,
it's like one of those things, you know, this thing, you had
to have been there, right? But if you were there, I mean, just,
we read about it, and these miracles are just phenomenal. Some of
these miracles, like, remember the man that was on the pallet
that they lowered him through the roof, for example? This guy
was on that pallet for, what, 20, 30, 40 years or something?
I forget the number, a long time. And when you heal a guy like
that who just stands up and walks away, I mean, you're talking
about it, in terms of muscle tissue and things like that,
you're talking an act of creation as well. And speaking of an act
of creation, how about the loaves and the fishes? Twice. 5,000
and 4,000. I mean, these are miracles that
are just, some of them are actually acts of creation. And I'll tell
you, but to witness all of that and come to the conclusion that
it's all done by the power of Satan, puts a person in a very
untenable situation. And that leads us to our second
point in verse 12. First one, follow the example
of Christ. The second one is be obedient
at all times. So then, my beloved, just as
you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now
much more in my absence. So keep the life of obedience. Follow Christ, be obedient at
all times. Now, the obedience, and here
again, I'm gonna go back to the Gospels and take a look, Obedience,
and this is so important, obedience is the mark of a true believer. And guess what lack of obedience
is? Is the mark of a non-believer. And so, if you're, if everyone,
the eternal security is an act of God. Personal securance assurance
comes from within. And the best way to have assurance
is to have that desire to be obedient to the Lord and actually
do it. Okay, assurance comes from working. It comes from living a life of
obedience. Let's go back to Matthew, Matthew
chapter 28. And we're just gonna walk through
here the New Testament a little bit. Matthew 28, the Great Commission,
verse 18. Matthew 28, 18, and Jesus came
up and spoke to them saying, All authority has been given
to me in heaven and on earth. I'm gonna pause right there a
minute. Okay, this is obviously post-resurrection, just about
ready to ascend back into heaven. You know where he gave up a lot
of prerogatives and submissive? Guess what? All authority has
been given to me in heaven and on earth. No longer in that state.
He's going back to heaven to be reunited with the Father. Anyway, verse 19, go therefore,
and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit." Verse 20, teaching
them to observe all that I commanded you. And lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age. What do we do? Obviously, we
go out and make disciples. How do we do that? By presenting
the gospel. They come in, but that's not
it. That's part one of the evangelistic process. Part two is verse 20,
teaching them to observe all that I commanded you. Now, where
do we find all that I commanded you? The Bible. It's right here
in the word. We have it. We have it all. We
move forward. John chapter 14. Working our
way back. John 14. I mean, this is so stressed
over and over and over again. John 14 verse 21. He who has
my commandments and keeps them, he is He it is who loves me. And he
who loves me shall be loved by my father and I will love him
and will disclose myself to him. And then Judas, not Iscariot,
said to him, Lord, what then has happened that you are going
to disclose yourself to us and not to the world? Jesus answered,
said to him, if anyone loves me, he will keep my word and
my father will love him And we will come to him and make our
abode with him. He who does not love me does
not keep my words, and the word which you hear is not mine, but
the father's who sent me." And then moving forward to Ephesians
4, 17. Ephesians 4, 17 says, This I say therefore and affirm
together with the Lord that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles
also walk in the futility of their mind. I want to pause a
minute. The word Gentiles here has two meanings depending on
the context. One meaning is the word Gentile
is used as a person that's not a Jew. And the other usage is
what you have here, a Gentile is a pagan. non-believer as opposed
to a believer. Remember, this letter's written
to the Ephesians, all right? And Ephesians were primarily
Gentiles, non-Jews. So that's the two ways this word
pops up. So the context will kind of tell
you which one is being referred here. In this case, it's pretty
obvious, but I just thought I'd point that out while we're here.
Now, being darkened in their understanding, that would be
the unbelievers, excluded from the life of God because of the
ignorance that is in them because of the hardness of their hearts. and they having become callous
have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of
every kind of impurity with greediness. But you do not learn Christ in
this way. Indeed, if indeed you have heard
him and have been taught in him, just as truth is in Jesus, that
in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old
self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts
of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and
put on the new self, which is in the likeness of God, being
created in righteousness and holiness and of the truth. Okay. I have another one, we'll
bypass it. My next passage will be 1 Thessalonians
chapter 1 verses 2 to 9. However, if you're a man, you
can come on Wednesday nights. We'll be starting 1 and 2 Thessalonians
this week. A little shameless plug there. Now, who, no, since we, in other
words, going from here, since we are to walk in a manner worthy
of our calling. We're in Ephesians, look at Ephesians
4.1, okay, a manner worthy of our calling. Therefore, I therefore,
the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy
of the calling with which you have been called. With all humility
and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another,
in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit in the
bond of peace." That sounded an awful lot like what Jesus
did when he came down with humility, gentleness, patience, showing
forbearance. Man, the forbearance Jesus showed
on the cross when they were down there mocking him and he could
have thought it and just snuffed them out right then and there.
You're talking about forbearance, mercy. And then 1 John, 1 John
chapter 2, verse 3, it says, and this is an important passage
about assurance of one's salvation. 1 John 2, verse 3 through 6,
and by this we know that we have come to know him if we keep his
commandments. John gets right to the bottom
line right here. Doesn't mess around. Right here,
this is what cuts it right here. By this we know that we have
come to know him if we keep his commandments. The one who says,
I have come to know him and does not keep his commandments is
a liar and the truth is not in him. You notice he doesn't say,
is mistaken? No, he says, is a liar. He's a liar. Verse 5, but whoever
keeps his word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected.
By this we know that we are in him. I mean, he just keeps saying
this. I mean, he just says it a couple of different ways. He's
emphasizing the fact, you know, emphasizing the fact, you know,
of what he said in verse three, by this we know that we have
come to know him if we keep his commandments. And again, he goes
on and says the opposite of that is true also. Those that don't
keep his commandments, don't care to keep his commandments,
they're giving full expression to the fact that they are not
his. Okay? And it's easy. I mean, people
say, judge not lest you be judged. Hey, man, we don't have to judge.
We don't need to judge. What does scripture say? By their
fruits, you shall know them. Those that don't believe, they expose their own condition.
You don't have to judge anybody. And we shouldn't judge anybody's
thinking process, their motives. You can just see if one's a believer
or not. Now, by the way, that's part
of what church discipline's all about. But anyway, that's a different
topic. Now, the third exhortation here
in verse 12 of Philippians 2 is the first one, follow the example
of Christ. The second one, be obedient at all times. And the
third one, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Okay,
first of all, I think it's important that we establish what this is
not saying. This is not saying we must work
for or earn our salvation, that's not saying that at all. And again,
if you still happen to be there, in Ephesians 2, very familiar
passage, 2.8-10 says, for by grace you have been saved through
faith and not of yourselves is the gift of God not a result
of works that no one should boast, and in verse 10, for we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. See, that's an
important point right here, and this one we'll draw back on a
little bit later. For we are his workmanship. We are, as believers, works of
Christ, you know? We are works of Christ, for we
are his workmanship. Why? What did he create us for?
For good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk
in them. And we could go a long time on this passage, on what
the ramifications are, but basically it's that everyone called to
be a believer has a purpose. We get into a discussion one
of these days about the spiritual gifts. Everybody is gifted to
carry out that purpose. And everybody, if nothing else,
we all fall under the commandment of the Great Commission. For
no other thing at all. If there's nothing else, we got
it. But I tell you, every one of you out there that's a believer
is gifted to do something. You're gifted to do something. And that's all we got, all we
can do for that today, but just know that. And there it says,
work out your own self, your salvation. To work out means
to fully work out. In other words, in a sense of
accomplishing by implication to finish, okay, just keep working,
don't stop working. Because again, it's a lifelong
or it's a lifelong process. It's a lifelong ordeal. Work
out. And it's also in the, it's a
present imperative. Remember those? Present imperative,
present tense means continuous action. It's not something you
do, I'll work it out on Tuesday. No. every day of the week, or
every waking hour of the week. Present, continuous action. Imperative
mode. Imperative mode means it's a
command statement. It's not an option. It's something
we have to do. It's something as children of
God, that's something our Father wants us to do. Work it out.
Keep going. Remember, Working out our salvation. And think of salvation in the
sense of the sanctification portion of salvation. We're not getting
saved, like I say, that's not what this is talking about. It's
talking about keeping it going, keeping it moving. And we're
not talking about at the risk of losing either, because I believe
a true believer will not. And that's the thing, a true
believer will keep it going. Will keep it going. You know,
those who are faithful to the end will be saved. That's a mark
of the true believer. When it all comes to the end,
they will be faithful. The true believer will be faithful
right up through and to the end. Now, the Christian life of sanctification,
I'll tell you, it requires effort. It requires lots of effort to
live the Christian life as described in the New Testament. It's not
a part-time job. You can't phone it in. It's a
day-by-day-by-day-by-day, step-by-step-by-step operation. It's not just something.
It's not some hit-and-miss thing. Look at 1 Corinthians, again,
1 Corinthians chapter 9. I mean, these are very practical. 1 Corinthians 9, beginning of verse
24. And I like what he uses. Paul
often uses sports, athletics, and military for observations. Here are the sports. 1 Corinthians
9, 24. Do you not know that those who
run a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in
such a way that you may win. Remember, you're not there for
the participation trophy, okay? You're going for the gold. Go
to win. In other words, when we're running,
when we're working for the Lord, we want to be our best. That's
the point he's trying to make here. And everyone who completes,
in the games, exercises self-control in all things, they then do it
to receive a perishable wreath. But we, an imperishable. See,
here's where the analogy is. You get that wreath, the Stephanus
crown, the Victor crown, the man that, you know, I just watched
Ben Hur the other night in the lottery thing for winning that
race, okay? And that's the winner's crown,
but that's because it's made, it's going to eventually just
rot away and die and be useless. But the wreath we're going for
is imperishable. That's in heaven where, you know,
come Judgment Day, that is the gold, silver, and precious stones,
the imperishable. That's what we're running the
race for. That's why we got to keep at it day after day after
day after day. You know, you stop, you're not
going to win. There, verse 26, Therefore I
run in such a way as to not as not without aim. I box in such
a way I am not beating the air. He's not shadow boxing. When he's boxing, he wants to
hit the target. He's just not flailing around. He's focused,
he's focused. But, verse 27, I buffet my body
and make it my slave, lest possibly after I have preached to others,
I myself should be disqualified. Wow. I myself should be disqualified."
And he's not talking about losing salvation, okay? He's not talking
about losing salvation. He's talking about losing his
ministry. Okay. 2 Peter. Look at 2 Peter. I haven't got Peter in the act
yet. 2 Peter chapter 1, which shows us a couple of things.
It's a tremendous passage. It shows the unity of the New
Testament on this. But 2 Peter chapter 1, we'll
begin at verse 1. Simon Peter, a bondservant, that's
doulos or slave, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have
received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness
of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Another statement of deity, by
the way, folks, the grammar says, by the righteousness of our God
and Savior, Jesus Christ, referring to the same person right there. Grace and peace be multiplied
to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, seeing
that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to
life and godliness through the true knowledge of him who has
called us by his own glory and excellence. Seeing that he has divine power,
has granted us everything pertaining to life and godliness, we've
got everything we need. You don't have to go out searching for
anything. It's all here in the scriptures. He's given us the
ability. He's given us the information. All we gotta do is apply it.
It's all there. It's people going seeking, people
out there always seeking something. It's already here. It's already
here. And I can see we're running out.
I'm just gonna leave this go for now, but you just read through
this passage, and I'm gonna drop to the end. I'm going to pick
it up in verse 12 of 1 Peter 1, it says, as long as I am in this earthly
dwelling to stir you up by way of remembrance. And this gives
you a little insight onto this letter. 2 Peter is a lot like
2 Timothy. Here Peter was writing this knowing
that his time on earth was coming to an end. And he goes, knowing
that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also
our Lord Jesus Christ had made clear to me, And I will also
be diligent that at any time after my departure you may be
able to call these things to mind." You know, we constantly
need to be reminded, and you notice verse 15? It gives you
the reason he wrote this letter. And I will always be diligent
that at any time after my departure you may be able to call these
things to mind. Look it up and read it. We have
it. We have it. Again, you know,
if it wasn't so terrible, it would be laughable. People out
there seeking new truth, please. Seeking new truth. You know,
let's learn the old truth, the real truth, right? And it's just,
it's amazing. All right, we work our salvation,
how? With fear and trembling. Fear, phobos, phobos, from what
we get the word phobia, it means being frightened. It could even
mean, even in the point of terror. Well, like Luke 21, 26, where
it says, Minph, speaking about Jesus in the Olivet Discourse,
talking about the end times, he goes, Men fainting from fear
and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world
for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. They're fainting
from fear, just thinking about what's coming based on what they're
seeing, okay? And they're dropping over. It's
also in Phobos, it's also used of a reverent awe and I believe
that's the situation here in Philippians where it's like in
Acts 2.43 where everyone kept feeling a sense of awe, there's
that word. And many wonders and signs were
taking place through the apostles. I mean, the apostles were doing
some amazing things through the power of Christ. And then in Acts 9.31, so the
church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace. enjoyed being built up and going
on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit
and continued to increase. Again, that fear of the Lord
that we have is not, we're terrorized of our God. No. If anybody on
this earth has no reason to be terrorized, it's us. It's us. We've been given his insurance
throughout both Old and New Testament that he called us because he
loved us and desired to pour his grace upon us. That's nothing
to be fearful of. There's nothing to be scared
of there, but there is great cause to have a reverential awe
of the God we serve. I mean, he's huge. He is big. And it's just, I mean, I think
of the Isaiah 6, picture of God on the throne,
and the angels shouting back and forth, holy, holy, holy,
and that's the God that picked us. It's amazing. The word trembling actually means
quaking with fear, trembling. Now this, again, this reverential
fear comes from an understanding of a holy and righteous God.
You know, it comes from a knowledge of him, who he is, as being righteous
and holy and awesome and in a knowledge of our comparative weakness. When we think of ourselves as
we ought to and we don't think of ourselves more highly than
we ought to, that has a humbling effect as we compare ourselves
to the creator of the universe, wouldn't you think? You know,
and that's why it's so important to understand who our God is.
It really is. Understand who our God is. I mean, I won't read it there,
but Paul described himself to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians
2, 1 through 5, as speaking to them with fear and
trembling, with fear and trembling because of the awesome message
of salvation that he carried and the responsibility he had
to his God. He produced, he viewed his ministry
that same way. We know in the Old Testament
it says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. I
mean, that's Psalm 111 verse 10. It's also in Proverbs 9,
10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of the wisdom. Now
the godless, and here's where we need to go back to Romans
once again, the godless have no fear of God. Romans chapter three again, verse
nine. Romans chapter three, verse nine. And here again, as Paul is wrapping
up his discussion on the fact that everybody alive is dead
in their trespass and does, in fact, need a savior, here's his
closing argument to that point. We'll pick it up in verse 9 and
we'll run through 18. What then? Are we better than
they? Not at all. For we have already
charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. And again,
two and a half chapters doing so. As it is written, there is
none righteous, not even one. There is none who understands.
There is none who seeks for God. All have turned aside. Together
they have become useless. There is none who does good. There is not even one. Their
throat is an open grave. With their tongues they keep
deceiving. The poison of asps is under their lips. Whose mouth
is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood. Destruction and misery are in
their paths. And the path of peace have they
not known. And it's kind of like a summation
statement. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. And that summarized it. There
is no fear of God before their eyes. I mean, I can't help but
just, I apply this to our own country today, especially our
government. Pathetic. They just about fit. I can put names. I'm not going
to do it, but I can put officials' names under all this at the federal,
state levels that promote What is being condemned here? Bizarre, really bizarre. But
there is actually, believe it or not, there is a good side
to that. Our light should shine even the
brighter in such darkness. Think about it. Think about it. Paul warned Timothy, those who
would live a godly life will suffer persecution. He didn't
say might. He said will. Will suffer persecution. So if you dare to shine your
light, stand by, as they used to say in the military, stand
by. It's coming. It's coming. And now we go to God's role in
sanctification, verse 13 of Philippians 2. I hadn't forgotten Philippians,
but there was a lot of ramification there. Verse 13, Philippians
2, for it is God who is at work in you both to will and to work
for his good pleasure. For it is God who is at work
in you. That term work, again, work in
the present tense, indicating God continually, He's active
continuously, He never stops. God does not, even when we are
less than faithful at times, God keeps working. God keeps
working. If nothing else, He works through
your conscience, He's going to work. He's not going to stop.
He's not going to stop. Why? Because He's going to bring
us all to fruition. He's going to see to it that
we make it to the end. Thank God He didn't leave it
up to us. How long ago would we have fallen out of the race?
Think about it. If it was on us, forget about
it. Forget about it. All have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. Now, the Lord spoke of the
presence of God in the life of the believer, Father, Son, and
Spirit. We read some of that in John 14, so I won't go back there. But he kept, in that upper room
discourse, he kept teaching the disciples, well, when I go, I'm
going to send the helper, but through the Holy Spirit. And
also, he also said that we, speaking of himself and the Father, will
be in you. So we've got the triune God working
for us. You just go back to John 14,
16, or you can read through 16 through 23. You'll get the whole
thing. Father, Son, and Spirit are active
within us as we speak today. They're there. They're active.
They're working. And they work the best through
the Word. The Holy Spirit really has, in
our sanctification process, the one member of the Trinity that
really has a critical role and a key role, large role, is the
Holy Spirit himself. And so I'd like to just spot
a little east, Galatians chapter five. Galatians chapter five. Galatians five, we'll start it
in verse 16. Galatians five, and if I get
through Ephesians, back up one more. Okay, Galatians five, beginning
of verse 16. But I say, walk by the Spirit,
and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the
flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against
the flesh. For these are in opposition to one another, so that you may
not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit,
you are not under the law. Now, the deeds of the flesh are
evident. And every one of us here is capable
of doing anything in this list. Just be mindful of that. For
the flesh sets desire against the spirit, and the spirit against
the flesh, for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may
not do the things which you please. But if you are led by the spirit,
you are not under the law. Now the deeds of the flesh are
evident, which are, immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry,
sorcery, entities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes,
dissensions, factions, envyings, drunkenness, carousing, and things
like these of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned
you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the
kingdom of God. And the key word there is practice
such things. If any one or several of these
describe a lifestyle, odds are you're not in the kingdom. An
occasional malfunction, all right, I'm not trying to make it easy.
Don't be grieving about an excuse, but know that. But, verse 22,
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things
there is no law. Now, those who belong to Christ
have crucified the flesh with his passion and desires. If we
live by the spirit, let us also walk by the spirit. All right. And then it says, let us not
become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.
Interesting, always that appeal for unity, you know, in many
ways. Don't become boastful, challenging
one another, envying one another. Now, how do we do that? Well,
I'm not going to turn that, but Ephesians 5.18 says, be filled
with the Spirit. I'm going to go to a parallel
passage because it's easier to understand as to what exactly,
how we can do that. Colossians 3.16, or what that
means. Colossians 3.16, where it says,
and this is a parallel concept to Ephesians 5.18 and following.
Colossians 3.16 and following are teaching the same truth.
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom,
teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and
spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to
God. And whatever you do in word and
deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through
him to God the Father. The key term is here, let the
word of Christ richly, richly dwell in you, abundantly. Let
it take over. Let it permeate you, okay? And
then, and again, that's why it's so important to be in the word. You know, not just on Sunday.
That's important, too, but not just on Sunday. It's good to
do on Monday. Tuesday is a good day, too. Try
Wednesday. Wednesday night, men, okay? Thursday. I mean, every day of the week
is a good day to get in the Word. It's important. We have to do
that. And then back to Philippians 2.13. What else? Well, for it is God who is at
work in you. Why? Well, both to will and to
work for His good pleasure. This is God's purpose. Remember
Ephesians 2.10? We are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand
that we should walk in them. To will and to work refers to
the believer's will, not God's, but to the believer's will and
work. In other words, God's purpose is that we would will to do what
is right before God. That's what he's saying here.
And through the power of God in us, we can do this. See, that's
the thing. If verse 13 wasn't here, this
could be a little bit of legalism going on here. Do this, do that,
do that, check the boxes, you're spiritual. Yay! No. No. The fact that God is working
in us makes it happen, makes it actually bear fruit, bear
fruit. Okay? Now, for his good pleasure, you're probably glad to hear
these words in conclusion. Philippians 2, 12 to 13. I'll read it one more time and
close with this, and close just beyond this. So then, my beloved,
just as you've always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but
now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with
fear and trembling. That is, be active in that sanctification
process. Why? For it is God who is at
work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Paul's skin, it speaks of man's role, God's role in our sanctification. You know, he does so, he makes
no effort to harmonize the two, you notice that? He just says
it. I mean, he doesn't tell us how. I guess he expects us to
work out our own salvation, or you could say work out our own
sanctification, and we'll figure it out as we do that. And I hope
I shed some light on that this morning, you know. But he just
simply states both truths, leaving us in the situation of maybe
not fully comprehending how they actually do work together, but
they do. But I think what we need to grasp is that as we are
faithful in going through the sanctification process, working
it out, working hard, not failing, not faltering. You know, I guarantee
you one thing, no matter how effectively we may work and do
our part, one thing that we can be counted, God will certainly
do his part. See, that we can take to the
bank. That we can take to the bank. And I think, that's what
I think, when it comes time to judgment, when the gold, silver,
and precious stones are passed out, Those who work harder on
here are going to get the gold, silver, and precious stones up
there. And I'll end with a passage that is one of the words that
we often use as a benediction verse, and that's Hebrews 13,
20 to 21, which speaks to this issue of sanctification. Now
the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great shepherd
of the sheep, through the blood of the eternal covenant, even
Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do his will,
working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ,
to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Father God, we
thank you this morning, Lord, for your word. And even those
passages, Lord, that at first don't seem understandable, we
know that your truth is there. And if we dig deep, we keep studying,
keep learning, we will discover those truths. And again, Lord,
we just thank you so much for the work of grace you've done
in each and every one of our lives. And again, Lord, we pray
that perhaps if there's someone here this morning that has not
experienced your effectual calling, we pray that you might bring
them to yourself this morning. Again, Lord, we ask in Jesus'
name and for your glory, amen.
The Believer's Sanctification
Series Philippians
| Sermon ID | 31724192296563 |
| Duration | 1:06:03 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Philippians 2:12-13 |
| Language | English |
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