SERMON OUTLINE:
(1). I will do my part (vs 12)
(2). I will depend on God (vs 13)
(3). I will not complain (vs 14)
(4). I will be different to make a difference (vs 15-16a)
(5). I will live for others (vs 16b-18)
SERMON BODY:
Quote: Mark Twain (American writer, humourist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer).
“Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example”
• Some of you may be wondering,
• Why Mark Twain would make such a tongue in cheek statement.
• After all, don’t good examples help us work harder?
• Don’t good examples help us aim higher in life?
• Don’t good examples help us seek to become better people?
• Well, the answer is yes, but good examples have one major flaw,
• They show us but they cannot empower us to achieve the same aims.
• We need more than an example on the outside,
• We need power on the inside!
• If we are to accomplish the same achievements in our own lives.
• In your previous study (verses 1-11),
• The apostle Paul has shown us Jesus Christ as the perfect example.
• An example in humility and service.
• We read it we agree with it, but how do we go about copying it?
• The answer from a human viewpoint is, We can’t!
• The answer from a Biblical viewpoint is we can, but not in our own strength
• Verse 13 gives us the key:
“for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose.”
• Someone has said “It is not by imitation, but by incarnation”
• God works in us and we work out”
• God works in us by his Holy Spirit and we out-work our faith in day to day living.
(1). I Will Do My Part (vs 12)
“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,”
The apostle Paul is talking to Christians.
• (Chapter 1 verse 1):
• “To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi”
• The Bible teaches there are two kinds of people.
• Not rich or poor.
• Not wise and foolish.
• Not even good and bad.
• The Bible speaks of those who are dead and those who are alive!
• If you are NOT a Christian, then you are dead!
• (Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1)
• “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,”
• If you ARE a Christian, then you are alive in Christ!
• (Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1)
• “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life”
The apostle Paul is talking to Christians.
• These verses are not HOW to become a Christian,
• But how to LIVE as a Christian.
• Notice: The apostle Paul does not say to “WORK FOR” your salvation
• But rather to “WORK OUT” your salvation.
• The Bible is very clear and teaches;
• That we are not saved by our works but by grace through faith in Christ.
• (Ephesians 2:8-9):
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Quote: The old hymn:
“I cannot save my soul by works,
for that my Lord has done,
But I would work like any slave;
For love of God's dear Son.”
• So, we are not saved by works,
• But we are saved to do, to show good works.
• To “work out our salvation with fear and trembling,”
ill:
• In the first century the verb “work out” was used for mining silver.
• Workers would enter the mine and bring out the silver that was already there.
• They did not put that precious metal in the mine,
• Their job was to bring it to the surface for others to see and enjoy.
• TRANSITION: Likewise, God has placed his Holy Spirit in our lives,
• And our responsibility is to bring him to the surface for others to see.
Ill:
• A four-year old boy and his mum went to visit a friend;
• The friend was heavily pregnant with her first child,
• And noticing the little boy starring at her huge belly;
• She allowed the little boy to place his hand on her belly and feel the baby kick.
• His little face lit up and he said, “How does the baby get out of there?”
• Well, she wanted to keep it simple so she said, “The doctor will help.”
• His eyes widened in amazement as he said,
• “You’ve got a doctor in there, too?”
• TRANSITION: Well, every Christian has an inside helper,
• The Holy Spirit who assists and helps us to do good works.
• Salvation starts when you accept Jesus Christ as saviour;
• But it never ends there.
• True salvation has to makes a difference to the way we live our lives.
(2). I Will Depend On God (vs 13)
“For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose.”
• But we are not left to our own resources.
• God is at work, providing the power for us to do good works.
Ill:
• When Missionary Herbert Jackson and his family arrived at the mission station,
• They were given a car that wouldn’t start without a push.
• He was told not to worry, and he could do one of three things:
• Leave the engine running or simply park it on a hill,
• Or go into a local school and ask if some of the students out of class,
• Could be spared for ten minutes to give his car a push start.
• For two years, Herbert Jackson followed this advice.
• Then because of ill health the Jackson family was forced to leave,
• One day a new missionary came to take over their work.
• As Herbert Jackson explained to the new missionary about the problem with the car.
• The new missionary asked to look under the bonnet.
• After about five minutes he said;
• “Dr. Jackson, I know what the problem is, it is this loose cable.”
• He gave the cable a twist, and the engine roared to life.
• Jackson was astonished... after two years of pushing and coasting,
• Only a loose connection kept him from having a properly functioning car.
• TRANSITION: Don’t live life with a loose cable
• For two years needless trouble had become routine.
• The power was there all the time.
• Only a loose connection kept Jackson from putting that power to work.
• When we make firm our connection with God, his life and power flow through us.
Notice: the play on words:
• We are to "work out" (katergazomai),
• And God is “at work” (energeo),
• <They are both from the same root ergon, "deed, action, work.">
Question: What is God working to produce?
Answer: Two things:
• FIRST: “Will” – that is (purpose, drive, determination),
• SECOND: “Action” (act, accomplish, carry through on).
• God is producing in us the desire and determination to do something,
• That will, “fulfil his good purpose.”
• So, this verse also tells us that;
• God gives both the will and the ability to do what he commands.
• First, he changes our “want-to” and second he provides the power to obey.
(3). I Will Not Complain (vs 14)
“Do everything without grumbling or arguing,”
Ill:
• A country park had a variety of walking paths,
• They wanted to get the feedback of those hiking trails.
• So, they decided to put out comment cards.
• Here are some of the comments which were actually written by hikers:
• “Make the trails wider so we can hold hands while walking.”
• “Trails have too many bugs, spiders; and leeches; spray to get rid of them.”
• “Pave the trails so they can be snow ploughed in the winter.”
• “Install chair lifts so we don’t have to hike.”
• Here is my favourite.
• “Installing a McDonalds at the end of the trail would be nice.”
• TRANSITION: Complaints are a big part of our world.
• And with social media and websites like ‘TripAdvisor’
• It has never been easier to make a complaint and be heard!
Note:
• The apostle Paul is trying to stop us discussing things,
• He is not against us having different opinions on certain topics or issues,
• But we should be able to do this in love and in unity.
• He's not so much against disagreement as disagreeableness.
• We are to speak the truth in love (Ephesians chapter 4 verse15),
• With an emphasis on the love!
So, often we can come together with the wrong attitude.
• Grumble, Gripe, Bellyache, Whine Complain, Carp, Protest, Moan, Object, Nit-pick;
• All these words are used to describe a chronic human condition,
• A condition that not only affects the one doing it,
• But also affects many others around them.
Quote: Will Bowen
“Complaining is like bad breath,
you notice it when it comes out of somebody else's mouth, but not your own.”
• The word translated as “arguing” might be better translated as “murmuring.”
• It carries the idea of muttering under your breath.
• We may not think that the sins of the tongue are all that bad;
• But the Bible does, it places them right up there with what we call the big sins,
• Such murder, adultery, stealing, and others!
• It’s not by accident that the apostle Paul,
• Just as soon as he writes that we are to work out our own salvation,
• Brings this sin to the immediate forefront.
• This is an area that affects most people, including most Christians.
Ill:
• Complaining starts almost immediately after we’re born;
• And continues throughout our lives.
• Even before we can put it into words, we put it into crying and screaming.
• As children, we complained about vegetables and dressing up.
• As adults we complain because the room is too cold or too hot,
• Or the music in Church is too loud or too old fashioned!
Ill:
• Remember that The Bible is full of complainers.
• The first complainer we read about was the first man.
• Adam complained to God.
• When he moaned to God that it was God’s fault that he sinned.
• “The man said,
• “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”
• (Genesis chapter 3 verse 12)
• TRANSITION: Complaining is a selfish mindset that declares,
• “I’m not getting what I want and what I deserve.”
• It is actually a complaint against God’s sovereignty,
• What we are really saying is, “God, you’re not being good to me.”
The solution to grumbling and moaning: Be focussed:
• What we look at determines what we see.
• Remember the poem?
“Two men look at through the same bars,
One sees the mud, the other the stars”
• What we look at determines what we see.
• If we focus on our problems,
• They will fill our minds until we see nothing else.
• No wonder we complain and mutter and murmur under our breath.
• But when we focus on the Lord and his goodness,
• We see our problems in the light of eternity.
• God doesn’t work on our timetable.
• Once we grasp that, we will not complain against the Lord.
• So, don’t complain but give thanks…
• That takes us into the next point.
(4). I will be different to make a difference (vs 15-16a)
“so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.] Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life.”
The apostle Paul uses three key words to describe how we should live as Christians:
• FIRST: Blameless–above reproach.
• So that no serious accusation made against us can stick.
• SECOND: Pure—high-quality, unmixed alloy.
• So that what you see is what you get.
• THIRD: Faultless.
• Fit to be offered to God-like a lamb without spot or blemish.
• We will make an impact on the world,
• When we live lives that are visibly, observably, measurably,
• Noticeably and obviously different from the people around us.
• We are to be different to make a difference.
• Our values set us apart from the surrounding culture.
• The surrounding culture, the world in which we live:
• Is according to verse 15: "Crooked" and "Depraved"
• The world is morally twisted and deformed from God's original creation.
• The church must not be!
• It is God's new re-creation and we are called us to a higher standard.
Question: What happens when we live like that?
Answer: The world notices the difference!
• FIRST: We will shine like stars (vs 15).
• SECOND: We will hold forth the word of life. (vs 16)
• People will see the way we live, they will notice the difference,
• The light of Christ will be seen in us,
• And when they ask us the reason for the way we live,
• We can share the word of life with them
Ill:
• A man once said to C.S. Lewis,
• “I would love to be an atheist, and I would be an atheist if it wasn’t for Mrs Williams.”
• Apparently, the man had never spoken to Mrs Williams,
• But he saw the way she lived, he saw the way she reacted to situations,
• And his conclusion was,
• There must be a God because I see the evidence for him in the life of Mrs Williams.
(5). I will live for others (vs 16b-18)
“And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labour in vain. 17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.”
Ill:
• Towards the end of his life William Booth, the Founder of The Salvation Army,
• He would send an annual Christmas message to Salvationists around the world.
• In those days, communication was by telegraph,
• And you paid for each word that you sent.
• Times were tough and the Army was short on money,
• So, the telegram William Booth contained just one-word.
• The word he sent was: ‘OTHERS’.
• TRANSITION: The apostle Paul gives one more piece of advice,
• In the final verses of this section.
• The apostle Paul explains it in two key phrases.
• FIRST (vs 16):
• He says he looks forward to boasting about the Philippians when Christ returns.
• The apostle Paul is confident that one day he will stand before the Lord,
• And he will give an account of his ministry.
• And he says his boast will be:
• What the Philippians had done for their own generation.
Tough Question:
• What will you boast about when you stand before the Lord?
• It will not be our job, our wealth, our possessions, the people we have met,
• None of that will impress the Lord!
• In that day the only thing that will matter;
• That is the impact you had on others for the cause of Christ.
• Everything else will fade away.
• What will matter when we stand before Christ?
Second: Paul mentions being “poured out as a drink offering” on their behalf (v. 17).
Ill:
• This refers to the Old Testament practice of pouring wine on top of an animal sacrifice
• So, that the heat of the fire immediately vaporizes the wine,
• Turning it into a beautiful aroma.
• TRANSITION: The apostle Paul is saying,
• “Even if I end up losing my life for you,
• it won’t matter to me as long as you live for Christ.”
• That statement really is the bottom line of Christian service.
• We probably all agree with it in theory, but how many of us can truly say,
• That it doesn’t matter whether we live or die,
• So long as the people we know follow the Lord?
Ill:
• I think of Jim Elliot the missionary in Ecuador, South America.
• He, along with four other young missionaries wanted to reach a tribe of Indians,
• The tribe was known for its violence so no-one ventured in their territory,
• But they were people for whom Jesus had died to bring them forgiveness & salvation.
• After months of strategic planning;
• The five felt the time was right to make face-to-face contact with the Indians,
• But it all went wrong, and on January 8th, 1956.
• Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Peter Flemming, and Roger Youderian,
• Were speared to death on a sandbar called “Palm Beach” in the Curaray River of Ecuador
• After his death, an entry was found in Jim Elliot’s diary:
• "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
• TRANSITION: Jim Elliott would say, “Amen” to the apostle Paul’s statement,
• “Even if I end up losing my life for you,
• it won’t matter to me as long as you live for Christ.”
