Turning our Bibles together to Philippians chapter 2. Continuing our series of holiness out of Philippians chapter 2. I'll read verses 14 and 15 and then we'll pray and then we'll get started. Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God, without blemish, in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world." Let's pray. Father, we do ask that You would now imprint Your Word upon our hearts, that as we go out into the world, that we would remember what You have said, that we would remember what You have commanded and demanded from Your people, that as we live in this world we would be light in the midst of darkness, that we would be purity in the midst of perversion, and that we would be straight and righteous and blameless in the midst of crookedness and twistedness. We pray that we would be the salt of the earth, and the light of the world. The world cannot deny who it is that we serve, and who it is that we have believed. In all this we ask, in the precious name of Christ, Amen. There is a great need in our day for faithfulness amidst the darkness In America especially, Christians have seen and have experienced unprecedented freedom and acceptance from the world at large. And this has not always been so in the history of the church. The history of the church is one of bloodshed. It is one of martyrdom, of violence, persecution, hatred, slander, misrepresentation, false imprisonments, beatings, torture, and scandal. This is the testimony of the history of the Church of Christ, of the Bride of Christ. Why else would we have such wonderful hymns to sing about how great our God is in the midst of trial and tribulation? A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing, our helper. He amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing, for still our ancient foe, that seek to work us woe. His craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal. Did we, in our own strength, confine our striving? We'd be losing. We're not the right man on our side, the man of God's own choosing. Thus ask who that may be. Christ Jesus it is He. Lord, sabboth His name. from age to age the same, and He must win the battle. And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us. The Prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for Him. His rage we can't endure, for lo, His doom is sure. One little word shall fell Him." that word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them abideth. The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him who with us sideth. Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also. The body they may kill, God's truth abideth still. His kingdom is forever." That is the reality of living in this fallen world. The world will hate us. Jesus promised that. The world hates Him, and therefore, the world will hate those who represent Him. The world loves darkness rather than light. And so, like a cockroach, when you flick the light on, suddenly, the people of the world scramble for the dark shadows. And in the midst of that context, what is needed are faithful people who are willing to stand firm in the increase of darkness. Jesus warned of this in the last days, the danger that would befall His people. Matthew chapter 24 verse 9, "...that will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death." and you will be hated by all nations for My namesake. And then, many will fall away, and betray one another, and hate one another, and many false prophets will arise, and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold, but the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this Gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come. The question then becomes for us, is which type of people are we going to be? What kind of people are we going to be here at Shiloh? Are we going to be people of verses 10 to 12? People who fall away and betray and hate one another. People who are led astray by many false prophets who will rise up. People who will grow cold in their love because of the increase of lawlessness. Or will we be people of verses 13 and 14? People who endure to the end and proclaim the Gospel through the whole world as a testimony to the nations. Will we hold fast and endure? Or will we fall away? Jesus' warning in Matthew 24 is a warning to us about the trappings of nominal Christianity. Christians, people who profess to be Christian in name only, but not in practice. People who claim the name of Christ, and yet don't have corresponding fruit. warning against the possibility that a person can deceive himself into thinking that he is saved simply because he claims that he is. Perhaps he's walked an aisle and said a prayer, maybe even been baptized. Maybe he's someone who comes to church every week, checks all the boxes and does all the right things. But it's truly in his heart a Christian in name only, and not truly. Once the hatred of the world comes to bear full force, this type of person checks out, because that's not what they signed up for. I'm going to be completely honest with you, the need for revival that we speak of, and the need for this stalwart pursuit of holiness and godliness that we are being called to in Philippians chapter 2, among the people of God, these things will not be led by the nominal Christians that fill up many congregations in our land. It won't be led by those who simply signed up for church because they were searching for purpose and promised such. It will not be led by those who signed up for prosperity. It will not be led by those who signed up for health and for wealth. It will not be led by those who signed up simply because they were told that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their life. If you signed up for those things, what's going to happen when persecution comes? What's going to happen when God's wonderful plan is pain and heartache? You're going to jump ship. This isn't what I signed up for. Christianity has been presented by and large in the last generation and in the current generation Religion of ease, and prosperity, and comfort. Middle of the line. God simply wants to bless you. And He does. But we've allowed the world to define what blessing is. Instead of preaching the whole counsel of God, what is needed in our day is The pursuit of holiness. That's what these verses are about from 12 to 18. Philippians chapter 2. The pursuit of holiness on the basis of the supremacy of Christ and the mind of Christ as presented at the beginning of the chapter. Last week we saw the fuel of holiness, considering first the human side of our pursuit of holiness in verse 12. Our effort, our fight, our work, our obedience lived out in light of the Gospel. Then in verse 13 we saw the divine side of the fuel for holiness. All of our efforts are born out of the working of the Holy Spirit within us. Today we look at the fruit of holiness. What's the fruit? of this pursuit that is fueled by the relationship between our effort and the Holy Spirit's effort. This symbiotic relationship where the Spirit works within us even as we are working both to will and to work for His good pleasure. What's the fruit of that? What does it look like as we're working out our salvation with fear and trembling? The first fruit of holiness that I want you to see is contentment. Contentment in the world. Do all things without grumbling or questioning." Verse 14. Do all things without grumbling or questioning. To say it positively, be content. Be content. Do all things, he says, that all. That's an unfortunate adjective for us, isn't it? It's not do almost everything you can without grumbling or questioning. Do most everything you can, 99%. Save a little 1% for yourself. Everybody needs to let off some steam every once in a while. Do your best, but when it gets really, really bad, you can complain a little bit. That's not what Paul says. Do all things. all things without grumbling or questioning. What's the all things? It's going back to verse 13. It's the working out of our own salvation with fear and trembling. As you are doing that, as you are in this life working your salvation with fear and trembling, do all of those things without grumbling or complaining. Grumbling It's an onomatopoeia. You remember what an onomatopoeia is from school? It's a word that mirrors the sound that's made. Usually we use it for animal sounds. You know, we say a pig says oink, or a cat says meow. Those are onomatopoeias. This word in the Greek is dangousmos. It's an onomatopoeia. It sounds, when you say it, like the grunts and the mumbles of grumbling. Dangousmos. Dangousmos. It's what happens when you stump your toe walking through the house and you walk through the rest of the house grumbling and mumbling. Or it's what happens when someone says something to you that you don't like and so you mumble and grumble under your breath. It's the murmuring just under your breath. And disputing or questioning. It's Dialogus Mas. You heard dialogue. We get the word dialogue from it. It means to have an argument. But there's a negative connotation here. It conveys an argument, or as it's rendered in the ESV, a questioning or a dispute as it's rendered in some other versions. Any of them conveys the sense it's disputing or questioning or arguing that is born out of doubt of the truth. It means to argue over the truth itself. There are right ways to argue. When you're on the side of truth, you argue for the truth. This is to be on the wrong side of arguing. To argue against the truth. It's the same word that's used to the disciples when they argued over which was to be the greatest in Luke chapter 9. They argued. It's the same word that Paul uses in Romans chapter 1. They became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. It's the same command he gives to Timothy in chapter 2 verse 8 of 1 Timothy. I desire then that in every place the men should pray lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling. Quarreling, arguing, questioning, disputing. What He's telling them is not to grumble or dispute or question as they are working out their salvation with fear and trembling. This is going to be, as you work out your salvation, a hard fight. This is going to be a battle. This is going to be a war. And He's giving them now some practical advice because when they get in the midst of the war, the temptation will be to grumble. When it gets hard, the temptation will be to complain. And ultimately we're taught not to grumble, but to be content with what we have in this world. Not to be the type of people who grumble or complain or dispute. Because, hear this, when we complain, or when we grumble, ultimately, We are challenging and questioning God Himself. No matter what the complaint is. We believe that God is in control. Do we not? We believe that God orders our steps and this is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice, right? And be glad in it. Except when it's bad and we can grumble. We believe that He is in control. We believe that He is sovereign. And when we complain and grumble against the way that things turn out, we are in effect complaining against Him and questioning His goodness and questioning His sovereign power and His sovereign authority and His ordination of all things that come to pass in our lives. He has numbered our steps. He has numbered our days. He has prepared us beforehand. We are His workmanship. for good works that have been prepared beforehand for us. And when we grumble and complain as our day rolls along, we question His goodness in that. Or do we believe that all things truly do work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose? Or there are some things that are outside of that promise and control. that would warrant our grumbling and complaining. In Genesis chapter 3, just after the fall, they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. The man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. So they're ashamed, they know they're naked, they know they've sinned, they hide from God. The Lord God called to the man and said to him, Where are you? You understand when God says this to the man, He's not looking for him. He's not looking for more information that he doesn't currently have. The man said, he's trying to get the man to confess. He says, I heard the sound of you in the garden. I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. And God said, Who told you you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you not to eat? The man said, The woman whom you gave Me, she gave Me the fruit and I ate it." Then the Lord God said to the woman, what is this you have done? And the woman said, the serpent deceived me and I ate. You hear where the man places the blame? The woman who you gave Me. There's a note of complaining and grumbling there against God. I mean, we know from the story of creation that God had created the woman for the man because the man found no one like Him. He found no helper fit for Him. He was lonely. He was alone. He was unique in all of the creation. And the creation of the woman was a supreme act of grace to cap off the end of His creative work. And then He declared the whole creation very good. And this man is going to complain, this woman, you gave me. If you haven't given me this woman, she wouldn't have handed me the fruit and I wouldn't have eaten it. Then the woman blames the serpent, another part of the creation. In chapter 4 of Genesis we see even more Cain and Abel present their sacrifices before the Lord. Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock. And the Lord had regard for Abel in his offering, but for Cain in his offering He had no regard. Cain was very angry and his face fell. And the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry? Why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? If you don't do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it. Cain spoke to his able brother, and when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Envy, strife, jealousy. Cain saw that Abel was regarded and his offering was regarded. And he hated it. In Numbers chapter 14, the people grumble against Moses. Do you remember the story? They grumbled against Moses. They grumbled against the Lord. Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wise and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt? Oh, how short is the memory of grumbling people. They have been mistreated in Egypt under slavery. They had been mistreated by the people of Egypt. They had been turned into slaves. They had built monuments to Pharaoh. They had cried out for deliverance. And now deliverance had come. And then it looked like it was going to be hard. It looked like it was going to be difficult to take the land. And so they grumbled and they complained. And God was ready to wipe them out, if you remember, and the only reason He didn't was because of the intercession of Moses. The church is not immune to discontent in this world. The church members, the body of a church. You remember 1 Corinthians 1, the people were divided, right? Some say I serve Apollos and some say I serve Paul. The whole letter of 1 Corinthians is about discontentment in the church. and Paul speaking out against it. Later in 1 Corinthians, we hear the grumbling about those who would come to the Lord's table. I read out of that chapter, 1 Corinthians 11, every time we observe that together every month. But the context surrounding it was the misuse and misappropriation of the Lord's Supper in the congregation. That's what Paul is dealing with in that text. I just read certain selections from it usually as we share together. Even James commanded against it, do not grumble. James 5, 9. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged. Behold, the judge is standing at the door. Grumbling, complaining, disputing, questioning is a serious sin. It betrays a lack of trust in the goodness and in the faithfulness of God. No matter what comes at us in life, Christians should strive to meet it without emotional or intellectual lashing out. Not grumbling, emotional, and not questioning intellectual. Instead, we meet this life and we meet the trials and the tribulations of this life with rock steady confidence in the goodness of God and with the knowledge that He will give enough grace for today that we will be able to glorify Him in it. Whether today is hard or easy, whether today is painful or pleasant, whether today is boring or fun, whether today is just another mundane day or day three of our vacation with our family, No matter what befalls us, to complain is to question the very goodness of God. So do all things without grumbling or questioning. A perfect cap to this is exactly what Paul says over in chapter 4 of Philippians. Verse 11, Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be what? Content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need." And then what does he say? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I can be content whether I am starving today or whether I have more food on my plate than I can eat. I can be content in Christ. That is where my identity is. So first, contentment in this world. Be content and be satisfied in Christ as you live in this world. Secondly, be innocent in this world. Verse 15, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God, without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. Now, of course, this is not calling for sinless perfection. We understand that we are still sinners. But the point is the pursuit of our life, the pursuit of holiness. The people of God should pursue holiness and pursue innocence as we deal in this world, and there's a reason for that, and we'll get to that in a moment. But blameless is to be faultless, is to be irreproachable, is to be above reproach in this world. It's the same connotation that he gives for the qualifications for elders and deacons when he says that they should be above reproach. That no one can bring a charge against the leader of a church. Because the moral character with which they conduct their lives shows who they truly are in Christ. Which would include repentance for their sin. For that is also a fruit of the new heart. To be blameless is to be faultless, to be irreproachable, above reproach. That's what we should, as believers, strive to look like in this world. No one can speak ill of us from a righteousness point of view. Innocent is to be unmixed or unadulterated by the world. Two slightly different connotations. To be unmixed or unadulterated by the world. There are far too many professing Christians in our day who quite frankly look and act like the world. They've been mixed. They've been adulterated. They've been influenced by the world. And we even see churches that act like this. And model themselves after the prevailing culture around. And all of it in the name of evangelism. You know, Paul's point in saying this is evangelism. Which is why he says, shine us lights in the world. And that's the next point. We're getting to that in a moment. Just took that away. Be blameless and innocent in the midst of this crooked and twisted generation. The church and the people of the church should not be a subculture of the larger culture. We're a counterculture. We're not a little circle in the bigger circle. We're a circle that's outside the bigger circle. We're over here in the light. That circles in the darkness. That's why he says that we would be without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. Of course, crooked is to be bent or curved. We get the word scoliosis from the Greek word behind that word crooked. You know what scoliosis is? It's a curvature of the spine, a curve in the spine, a bend in the spine. crooked, bent, or curved, twisted, literally it's perverse, or perverted, a perverted generation, which is the way some translations translate the word. Righteousness is the straight and narrow path. But the world in its darkness is crooked, it walks bent and curved, and ultimately it's perverse in its moral compass. The moral compass of the darkness of the world is off. That's how Peter described the world. Acts chapter 2 verse 40 in his sermon. With many other words, he bore witness and continued to exhort them saying, save yourselves from this crooked generation. This is pretty easy to get, isn't it? How it ties into grumbling or questioning. That's the way the world acts. The world grumbles. They have no foundation and they have no hope. the world grumbles and the world complains and the world questions and the world disputes. And how is the world going to know how content we are in Christ if we sit around the water cooler on Monday morning and grumble and complain and question and dispute about the very same things that they do? Our direction as children of God, the pursuit of our lives should be holiness, that we would remain unstained from the world and blameless in the world. We don't complain with the world because the stock market crashes. Because 401Ks are empty. Because Supreme Courts made decisions. Because Presidents make unrighteous decisions. We don't complain. We don't grumble. We speak the truth about it. But there is a vast gulf of difference between speaking the truth into the culture and complaining in the culture. We have seen it increasingly in our day that evil is called good and good is called evil. So notice, this isn't saying that the world will love us because it sees that we're blameless and innocent. In fact, it's not even a promise that the world will consider us blameless and innocent when we act blameless and innocent. This is a promise that God is the ultimate judge and we don't fear those who can only kill the body but not the soul. We serve God because He's our Father. And He is the ultimate judge to whom we owe allegiance. The world will malign us for the sake of righteousness. and hate us for the sake of righteousness. But we pursue righteousness. 1 Peter 4.12, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice insofar as you share in Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed. because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. You ever think about that? They left the council rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to suffer shame for the name. Friends, we should not be concerned that we would suffer for the name of Christ. We should be concerned that we not be counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ. If you're insulted for the name of Christ, you're blessed. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. He buttresses it, Peter does. We're not saying that any time you suffer it's good. If you suffer as a murderer, you deserve to suffer. But if you suffer for the name of Christ, then you are blessed. Anyone who suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. So we're content in the world. We're innocent and blameless in the world. To what end that we be lights in the world? That we be a light in the world. What's the point of all this contentment that people can see in us and the innocence and the blameless? It would be reason enough, by the way, to pursue those things simply because God tells us to. But He gives us further motivation. It's the end of verse 15, "...among whom you shine as lights in the world." We are lights in the world among whom? Who's the whom? It's the crooked and twisted generation. That's where we shine as lights in the world, among that. Paul is reminding them that their walk is a testimony to God's grace working in them. We strive for holiness and we pursue holiness to please the Lord and to build up the church, but we also strive for it for the sake of our evangelism and for the sake of our witnessing. Jesus taught this. Paul isn't making this up. Matthew 5, verse 13, you are the salt of the earth. If salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It's not good for anything except to be thrown out. You're the light of the world. A city on a hill can't be hidden, nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a stand. And He gives light to all in the house in the same way. Let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. That's the goal. Not do good works so that they will say, those Christians sure are awesome. It's do good works so that they will say, whoever those Christians serve sure is awesome. Give glory to the Father in heaven. Daniel chapter 12 verse 3, those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above. And those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. Isaiah 49, 6, and talking about the Anointed One, it is too light a thing that you should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserve of Israel. I will make you, the Anointed One, a light for the nations, and My salvation may reach to the end of the earth. Jesus said, I am the light of the world. The eternal light that will never go out, will always burn. Fascinating passage in Jude, verse 12, talking about false teachers and using metaphors to describe what they're like, Jude says in verse 12, these are hidden reefs at your love feasts. Hidden reefs. What's the problem with a hidden reef? You can't see it. You're in your boat, reef there, can't see it, bam, shipwreck. Like Gilligan's Island. I've been watching that a lot lately on TV. Hidden wreaths at your love feasts as they feast with you without fear. Shepherds feeding themselves. Waterless clouds. Clouds that look like they bring rain, but they bring nothing. waterless, empty, devoid, swept along by winds, fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted, wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their shame." And then he says this, "...wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever." Wandering stars. What's the problem with a wandering star? You can't use them to navigate. People out on the open sea, people back before we had GPSs and MapQuest on the iPhones and so forth, they used the stars. What good is using the stars if the stars are moving on you? Wandering stars don't provide a fixed place, a fixed spot with which to see the straight path. And that's how Jew describes false teachers, is wandering stars. They look bright, and they look worthy of following, but you're constantly crooked and bending and walking. In contrast, Christians should be fixed points that shine brightly with the light of Christ, pointing the world to His beauty and to His grace and to His gospel, ultimately pointing the world, in one word, to the truth, the objective truth of the Word of God. That's where verse 16 goes. As we do this, what do we do? Hold fast to the Word of Life. Hold fast to the Word of Life. And that's exactly what we'll pick up next week, Lord willing, the foundation for our holiness. Let's pray. Father, as we've seen, we've seen the fruit of the holiness that we should pursue in Christ and the power of the Spirit. So we pray that You would do this for us. We pray that You would work in our hearts, in our minds, in our souls. That we would be this light in the darkness. That we would be the straight rod amongst a crooked and twisted generation. That we would be the fixed point that points people evildoers, swindlers, slanderers, to the truth of the gospel that has so saved us and redeemed us, to the light, the glory, the grace of God in the face of Christ. So be with us as we leave here and as we go out into the week ahead to be different, to rest in your goodness and grace, to be content in this world, to do all things without grumbling or complaining that we might shine in the darkness. All this we ask in His name, Amen.