“BE GLAD AND REJOICE WITH ME” (Outline)
March 29, 2020 - Lent 5 - PHILIPPIANS 2:12-18
INTRO: How are you doing today? Indifferent? Sad? Glad? “Be glad and rejoice with me” are the last words in our text. They are a very fitting theme for our thankfulness to have God’s Word in our hearts, lives. Psalm 118 reminds us “This is the day…” We are also told why “this is the day…” "The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the LORD. It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the LORD has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it” (PSALM 118:22-24). The Lord is our cornerstone. This is the day to rejoice. This is from the Lord. It is marvelous in our eyes. “BE GLAD AND REJOICE WITH ME”. I. You are God’s very own child. II. You are God’s shining lights.
I. YOU ARE GOD’S VERY OWN CHILD
A. Verse 12. “…my dear friends…” Faith in Christ made believer dear friend with the Apostle Paul.
1. The believers heard God’s Word. Believed. Obeyed. Whether Paul was there or not.
2. Faith was an ongoing process. “…continue to work…” Add to faith God’s wisdom, truth.
a. Fear = fear of the Lord is beginning of wisdom. b. Trembling = amazed by God’s grace.
B. Verse 13. God’s powerful grace is explained. “God is working in you…” This word is energy.
1. God’s energy worked in them to want to do his will. Believers’ word also is energy.
2. God gave believers his energy to have energy to do everything for God’s will and pleasure.
C. Verses 14, 15a. They were to use divine energy to not complain or argue.
1. They were “children of God”. Believers were members of God’s house, his kingdom.
2. The generation was “crooked and perverted”. Believers’ actions seemed blameless and pure.
D. “Be glad and rejoice with me”. We are children of God. As the Psalmist (118): “This is from the Lord. It is marvelous in our eyes.” All of us know the value of being a member of a family. We are well aware of the love of a parent for their child. Our loving, heavenly Father’s love for us is perfect. Always. God’s perfect love for us makes us his children. Think of that: we are children of God. We belong in God’s family. “See the kind of love the Father has given us that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are! The world does not know us, because it did not know him" (1 JOHN 3:1).
E. As a child of God we also trust in the Lord’s divine care for us. Each day is this day that God freely provides everything beneficial for our soul. The child of God works to “do everything without complaining and argument”. It can be all too easy to complain. Our sinful nature is never, ever satisfied. There is always something wrong in this world. In our lives. We do not live in a perfect world. But our heavenly Father knows what we need. And he daily provides every good and every perfect gift from above. "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly cannot take anything out. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be satisfied" (1 TIMOTHY 6:6-8). Contentment is only achieved by godliness. “Be glad and rejoice with me”.
F. In these trying times our hope --- our comfort --- our strength comes from the fact we are God’s children. Nothing is able to separate us from the love the Father has for us, his children. We share in our Savior’s blessings. We also share in our Savior’s suffering. During Lent we focus on every-thing the Lord Jesus Christ endured for the sake of his creation. His children. Jesus was falsely ac-cused. He was unjustly convicted. Crucified. Buried. Rose from the dead. All of this Jesus did for us. We are pained by the suffering of our Savior. We are also glad our sins have been fully for-given. "Now if we are children, we are also heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, since we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him” (ROMANS 8:17). “Be glad and rejoice with me.”
“BE GLAD AND REJOICE WITH ME” By grace through faith you are God’s very own child.
II. YOU ARE GOD’S SHINING LIGHTS
A. Verse 15a. The believers obeyed God’s Word. Appeared blameless in a depraved generation.
1. Verses 15b, 16a. Believers were even more than God’s children. Also shining lights.
2. Shining lights “as you hold out the word of life.” Only God’s Word was life. Truth. Way.
3. Verse 16b. Shining as lights Paul knew his work among them was not in vain. Not empty.
B. Verse 17. Paul knew that the end of his life was near: “being poured out like a drink offering.”
1. The Apostle Paul was also thankful that he had spent his life in the Lord’s service.
2. Paul was in prison. Separated from the believers. His attitude: “I continue to be glad…”
C. Verse 18. “In the same way, also be glad and rejoice with me.” Paul was not sad or disappointed.
1. No matter the situation Paul knew that the Savior always held him firmly in his hands.
2. Paul believed that the Lord God of Armies worked out everything for his good.
D. “It is marvelous in our eyes” to be called a child of God. “And that is what we are!” Our gracious God does not stop there. Our loving, heavenly Father gives us the opportunity and the privilege to “hold out the word of life.” We do this as shining lights in our crooked and depraved generation. Light is important. Light scatters the darkness. We need light to survive. To thrive. Our Lord Jesus Christ is our Light. In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) Jesus reminded the people about the value of light. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket. We are the lights for this world. “In the same way let your light shine in people’s presence, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (MATTHEW 5:16). The brightest light people will notice today is the fact that we are still glad and rejoicing in the present trials.
E. “Be glad and rejoice with me”. People will notice the joy spilling out from our hearts into our lives. Let’s face it there is a lot of gloom and doom in this world. Even in our nation. At the pre-sent time. We might be ready to join in with the rest of the world and be unhappy. Dearest friends we are the lights that this world desperately needs. "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth” (EPHESIANS 5:8, 9). One blessing of our faith is to turn from the darkness. To live as children of light. We are able to walk as children of light. In goodness, righteousness, and truth: brightly shining.
F. Jesus reminded us that people are to see our shining lives and praise our heavenly Father. Has your life reflected the Lord’s glory? Has anyone asked you why or how you can be so cool, calm, and collected in these frightening times? We have the answer. The Lord God of Armies is in complete control over all things. Always. “Those who have insight will shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who bring many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever" (DANIEL 12:3).
CONC.: “This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” If you are reading this sermon it means you are alive. Even more: you are God’s very own child. You are God’s shining lights in this generation. Remember Paul who was in prison. He still found great joy in his labors of love for the Lord. “Rejoice in the Lord always! I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (PHILIPPIANS 4:4-6). Rejoice. The Lord is near. Do not worry. Pray with thanksgiving. Child of God…Shining light...“BE GLAD AND REJOICE WITH ME”. Today is the day Lord has made. And the tomorrow. And our forever. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
LENT 5 rdgs.: EZEKIEL 37:1-14; ROMANS 8:11-19; JOHN 11:17-27, 38-45; (PSALM 116)
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