Warnings, Exaltations, & Instructions – The Church at Philippi
Philippians 2:12 – 16
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed – not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life – in order that I may boast on the day of Christ, that I did not run or labor for nothing.
Exaltation – Obedience (Even When the Pastor’s Not Watching)
At my last church, I had a wonderful man and woman who used to come to church quite regularly. Every day I walked the dog right past their place, and I would often stop and talk to them as they sat on the porch. One day, I stopped to talk to them, and she invited me in to have a cookie and to chat. I did not have the dog with me this day, so I took her up on the offer. I walked into the house, and it was spotless. Everything was clean and dusted and in its place. There were several Bibles placed throughout the room, and one was even open near the husband’s sitting chair. We had a great visit, and I came away from the house with a great impression of the family.
Well, several weeks after this visit, I got a call that I needed to go down to this same house because they were in the middle of some type of emergency and they wanted to talk to a pastor. I went right down to see them. As I walked in the doorway, I was shocked that I was actually in the same place. Everything seemed like it was in disarray and was far from clean. Before, I had seen at least 5 Bibles in the room, and now, there were none visible to the naked eye. Where the Bibles once sat, there were ash trays and some beer caps. What was the difference? In the first visit, they had planned that I was coming, so they made the necessary adjustments to their life to look as if they were living the Christian lifestyle. On the second visit, it was a surprise, so they were not prepared, and I got a glimpse into what their lives were really like.
I don’t know why people change the way they act when I am around. When people find out that I am a pastor, they often change their speech and actions as if I am the one they have to please. However, even non-Christians often change their behavior when I am around to appear that they are more righteous than they actually are.
Paul approached this situation by giving an exaltation to the believers at Philippi. He gives them credit for obeying the word of God when he was there, and he extends this praise by telling them that they are doing it even more while he is absent. This is evidence of the health of this church. They truly loved God and were living according to the instructions Paul and the Lord had given them. That is a true testimony to their love of God, because, like the Scripture says, if we love God, we will obey His commands.
God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows how prone we are to fall back into the ways of the world and still be able to put on a show at church. If you are honest with me and with God this morning, you know that there have been times that you have acted holy in church and walked out the door and your faith has not been evident in your everyday life. God knows this – He knows everything. That is why He didn’t tell anyone the day or the hour that He is coming back. If He did, we would all do what we wanted until right before He came back. Then, we would do what these folks did to me. We would make ourselves right and would be ready when He came. God addresses this in Matthew 24:42-44. He says, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.”
You see, it’s not me you have to impress. It’s God who is always watching, so if we love Him like we say we do, we will make every effort to live in obedience at all times like this church at Philippi was doing. After all, we do not know the day or the hour, so we must make sure that we are always ready. Can you say that about your life now? Is there any time of your week where you would be embarrassed to have a surprise visit from Jesus? If there is, you need to work on your obedience to His word at all times.
Instruction – Work Out Your Salvation
A little boy once got saved. While he was telling his friend about the experience, he told him, “I got a new heart.” The other boy immediately responded, “Well, let’s see it!” I think the world is screaming the same thing to Christians. You say you’ve got something great, but we want to see something more than talk. We want to see action.
Paul tells us that we are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. First of all, let’s take a look at what is meant by “work out”. The Greek word used here, which I am not even going to try and pronounce, was a word used to describe the work of miners. Think about the work that coal miners do. The beat their body every day constantly having to work bent over or on their knees. The get their hands and entire bodies dirty as they search for every valuable piece of coal. And, a mine is not closed until every piece of coal is extracted from it no matter how much hard work is involved. That is what we are to do in the faith. We are to do whatever it takes to show the value of having a relationship with Jesus. That means we will have to get down on our knees. We will have to get dirty and start serving God and other people at every opportunity. And, we are not to stop until the last valuable person is reached for Jesus Christ. Basically, it means that we are to prove that we truly love Jesus by doing everything we can for His Kingdom.
Now that we know what we are to do, we have to take a look at why we are to do it. We are to work out our salvation because we have fear of the Lord. We need to have a healthy fear of the justice, holiness, power, goodness, and wisdom of God. However, we have tended to turn God into a little teddy bear who has nothing but comfort and love for us, but we have forgotten that He is Almighty and is completely just and holy and will not tolerate sin. We need to regain a Spirit of fear and respect for God because of his greatness. We need to hold Him high because he is worthy of all reverence. This means that we will fear and respect God enough to do what He tells us in His Word. We will fear Him enough to do the works a true Christian does no matter if it requires a great deal of time and energy. It’s time we get back the mentality that God is to be revered.
Instruction – Don’t Complain or Argue
I don’t know about you, but all I have to do is read this verse to come under conviction from the Holy Spirit. Let’s be honest with each other this morning. By a show of hands, how many of you are guilty of complaining last week? That’s interesting that we are so open to confessing that we committed a sin, because, if I would have asked for a show of hands to confess a lustful thought, negative attitude, evil intentions, or the like, I probably wouldn’t have gotten a response. You see, we have legitimized complaining as just one of those little sins, or perhaps you don’t even think of it as one.
Our society has fallen in love with complaining! If you don’t believe me, do a goggle search when you get home on it. I was amazed to find such Internet sites as howtocomplian.com, itpaystocomplain.com, and complaindomain.com. It turns out that people actually want help to know how to complain better. That seems incredible to me. I think Dale Carnegie said it best when he quipped, “Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain – and most fools do.”
So, what are we talking about when it comes to complaining? The dictionary defines it this way.
Complain: To give utterance to expression of grief, pain, censure, regret. etc.; to lament; to murmur; to find fault
When writing this passage, Paul uses the Greek word goggusmos. This word is only used a few times in the Greek Bible, but it is mostly used to describe one particular situation in the Old Testament. Can you remember anytime in the Bible when there was more complaining than when the Israelites were going out of Egypt to the Promised Land? I want you parents to think back to the last long road trip you took with the kids. Now, imagine you were in charge of a million and a half kids and put yourself in the shoes of Moses. How many times do you think he heard, “Moses, are we there yet?” “Moses, when are we going to stop to eat?” “Moses, I don’t like the taste of this water. Can you get us another kind?” “Moses, do we have to eat at the Manna Hut again? I’m sick of it!” “Moses, why isn’t God helping us?” Can you imagine how frazzled Moses must have been during this trip?
Now, when I look back at these Israelites, I often wonder how they could be so ungrateful. After all, God had just released them from slavery. Then, they saw His power at work as He parted the Red Sea. Then, they didn’t have to worry about food because God supplied it for them. And yet, all they did was complain and murmur the whole way. Things haven’t changed much. We complain about things almost on a daily basis even when God commands us not to. In my book, that makes complaining a sin especially when it happens in the church. We have every reason to be content in our faith in the arms of Jesus, but we have to have more. We think we deserve to always have it our way, but God just wants us to let go and let Him work.
The same holds true for arguing – it gets you nowhere. When I was younger, I could not stand the taste of peas. When they were on my plate, I would argue and argue that I should not have to eat them. I never won the battle. In fact, in my arguing, I usually made things worse because the only thing that tasted worse than a pea was a cold pea. And there, everytime, I would have to eat my cold peas which was even worse than the warm ones. Arguing with God will get you nowhere. Arguing with other Christians will drive a wedge in the church. Arguing with non-Christians will probably keep them away from the church for a very long time. The world has enough complaining and arguing without the church getting involved. I pray that we will be marked by love and peace instead of murmuring, bickering and complaining. I think the words of the Eagles song say it best when they tells us:
Get over it. All this whining and crying and pitching a fit, get over it!
Those are good words for the church.
Instruction – Shine Like the Stars
How many of you love to go out on a clear summer night to take a look at the stars. They are magnificent. Even though they are all mostly light years away, we can see them pierce through the darkness with their incredible brightness. Now, the sun is the closest star to earth, and we cannot really even look directly into its light, but we can see the effects of it all around us. It brings warmth, light, and growth to the earth. And, there is nothing quite so beautiful as a sunrise or sunset to gaze at with someone you love.
Is there any wonder why Paul chose to tell us to shine like the stars? Stars draw the attention of everyone around. Stars bring light even to dark places. Stars bring light, warmth and growth to an otherwise cold and lonely world. Isn’t that what the Christian is supposed to be like? Our actions, our countenance, our words, and the like should attract people to God who is the light source. We should bring warmth to others through our joy and love. We should produce growth in those who are around us. Our life should be a beautiful sight to those around us. Unfortunately, I think many Christians have bypassed shining like the stars and settled for shining like a flashlight. Let me explain. A flashlight has an on off switch. This means that we have control on whether we shine or not. We shine when we are in church, and we turn it off when we go to work so people will not think we are odd. A flashlight also has a concentrated beam that only shines light where it is pointed. That means that we choose where we are shining. We will shine when we are around this person, but this other person doesn’t like me so I will not shine on them. Also, a flashlight only has so much battery life. When we have shined for long enough, we call it quits because we are out of power. Then, all you are left with is a dollar’s worth of plastic that is useless. That’s how we are when we shine like a flashlight instead of like the stars.
How do we shine like the stars? Moses had the right idea. Do you remember what happened when Moses was in the presence of the Lord? He spent a great deal of time talking to God and listening as well. Then, the Lord blessed him by giving him a glimpse of his glory. Do you remember what happened? Exodus 34:29 tells us “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord.” Talk about shining like the stars! There is a lesson in here for us. When we spend an extended time with the Lord, He will make us radiate and shine. We will not even know that we are shining. It will just be second nature to us. We won’t have to turn it on or off or worry about the batteries dying out. We will shine because the glory of the Lord has transformed us. I ask you this morning – are you shining like a flashlight or a star?
If you were the president of the United States, you would get to meet quite a few important people in your lifetime. Most of these people would be very impressive in stature, vocabulary, and the like because most of them would be world leaders, famous, and the like. Woodrow Wilson was a president who had many such run-ins with great people throughout his presidency, but one of these meetings sticks out in his mind more than any other. I will let Him tell of this experience in his own words:
“I was in a barbershop when I became conscious that someone unusual had entered the room. A man had come in quietly and was seated in the chair next to mine. Every word he uttered showed a personal and vital interest in the one who was serving him, though he was not the least bit formal or pompous. Purposely, I lingered until after he left and noted the singular effect he had upon the barbers in that shop. Their conversation was quiet and subdued. Though they did not know his name, somehow his presence had elevated their thoughts and impressed them greatly. Personally, I left there feeling I had been to a place of worship.”
It turns out that this man was none other than the great preacher D.L. Moody. Why did he have such an effect on the barbers in the shop and on the president of the United States? Well, he was being obedient in and out of the church. He had worked out his salvation with fear and trembling. There was not even a hint of complain in his voice, and he did not argue. And finally, it was obvious that he had been in the presence of God because he shone like the stars. Are you tired of the boring, lifeless Christianity that has become commonplace? That type of Christianity is worthless and will make only a negative impression on those we come in contact with. It’s time we start shining. Won’t you come meet the Lord this morning at the altar to get on the right track? Pray with me.
