Philippians 2:12-18
Ok I am Saved, Now What?
Introduction
A. For Christmas my brother gave me a (no not stickers this time (He probably was feeling guilty)) a really cook 3d puzzle among other things
B. So I open this 3d puzzle and I look at it and here is 806 foam pieces just sitting there
C. And I am looking at them wondering what I should do about it
D. So I look at the instruction and it tells me what to do, how to do it, and when to do it
E. Sure enough I followed the directions and I put it all together correctly
F. The Bible also tells us what to do how to do it and when to do it
G. Many times I have heard comments of people not knowing what to do after salvation
H. You here things like does this mean I have join a monastery and become a monk?
I. You here things like how much is this going to cost me?
J. Stuff like does this mean I have to where a suit to church every week and be at church Sunday Morning, Sunday Night, and Wed night?
K. Well fortunately for us, and for our friends we are working with, the Bible tells us what we should do
L. Today we are going to look at the
a. The What to do
b. The How to do it
c. And the When to do it
I. The what to do 12-13
A. Explanation
1. These two verses have created a lot of problems for readers over the century, lets look at them closely
2. WE have to understand that Paul led these people to Christ
3. He has always been viewed by them as their Pastor
4. Paul is getting old, been in and out of prison, and basically does not know if he is going to survive much longer
5. Therefore he is worried about his sheep and offers this little paragraph to warn them
6. Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling
7. That phrase has caused many people to loose a lot of sleep over
8. The word that Paul uses for “work out” is the Greek verb katergazethai.
9. Which means bringing to completion, to a full and complete perfect accomplishment and conclusion
10. If you take that idea and apply it to the rest of the passage, you get this idea that Paul is telling the Philippians to continue to seek God
11. To find out more about God, to become more like God
12. To not be satisfied with where they are at spiritually, but to work on their salivation, their spiritual life
B. Application
1. What can we gain from this?
2. Salvation in and of it self is not an end all
3. You should never stop their
4. Folk there is a lot more out their then the initial Salvation
5. It is what we refer to as Sanctification
6. That is what we are to be pursuing
7. That is working out our salvation
C. Illustration
1. Think about the process of meeting a new friend. When you first meet him you might find out his name is Joe and that he has two kids one dog a turtle a minivan and a wife. However, you do not know that he like to eat Italian food from Bucca Di Beppo. You might not now that he is actually a dreaded Cleveland Browns fan, you might not know that he used to serve in the military
2. There could be so much more about him that you don’t know
3. If you like the person you spend time with him
4. You find out more about him, and the two of you become closer
5. How do you think it work with God? The same way
6. Spend that time with God, Get to know Him, work out your salvation
7. Know you know what to do, know how do you to it
II. The how to do it 14-16a
A. Explanation
1. Let me just start of by saying I have never like this verse! (See I don’t even follow it J)
2. Do everything without complaining or arguing
3. Everything literally their all things, you get the point
4. And I am sure you know what complaining or arguing means right?
5. Why though, why would Paul tell the Philippians to do that
6. I imagine Paul was in a dark prison. One were there just was not a lot of light
7. When it was a clear night outside, the stars would light up that place magnificently
8. Knowing that the stars created that much contrast, Paul was thinking that in the day he was living there were many people living a life of sin
9. Therefore, if the Philippians were to do everything without grumbling or complaining and instead do it with the joy of the Lord in mind
10. They would be able to shine like stars in the universe
B. Application
1. Ok what does that have to do with us?
2. Think about it for a second
3. Do we live a crooked and depraved generation?
a) To answer that turn on your TV for about 5 minutes
b) The answer obviously is Yes
4. So we are in the same boat as the Philippians
5. So we are able to shine like stars if we do everything with out grumbling or complaining
6. You know what then happens, it becomes contagious
7. It begins to spread
C. Illustration
1. As humans we have a tendency to mimic stuff that we see. Example would be is if I were to yawn right now what do you think would happen? Everybody else would start yawning.
2. When I am around someone for any length of time I begin to sound like them. I do not reveal my impressions that often but when I do their good, just ask Heather, sometimes I imitate her so good, that she ends up in pain from laughing so hard
3. But that is what happens when you’re around something for any length of time.
4. Therefore, if we do what we are suppose to do and shine like stars, look what could happen
5. Look how we could effect the whole world, wouldn’t that be great?
6. That’s how to do it. Now the question is when to do it
III. The when to do it 16b-18
A. Explanation
1. At this point in Paul’s ministry he has reach the climax
2. He knew that, the people knew that, everybody knew that
3. He was getting old, and did not even know if he would ever get out of prison
4. But see here is what is different about Paul then most people
5. Paul is facing certain death, and he is not sitting there worried about it
6. He is still rejoicing with joy
7. He is proud of what he had been able to accomplish
8. It is amazing what he is worried about at during this events
9. All Paul wants to do it to praise the Lord
10. Paul understood that there is nothing better then have people he personally worked with, following Christ
B. Application
1. What can we learn from all of this?
2. We need to embrace an attitude like Paul
3. We need to understand that if we train people up and they are serving God, that is what counts
4. If we disciple people and their on the right course, that’s what counts
5. Think about this principle
a) If you invest your energy into two people and those two people are following God look what you just did
b) You just effectively double your ministry
6. That is what were talking about here
7. That is what is all about
8. When do we do this?
9. Now!
10. When do we stop
11. Never
12. We should always be trying to influence people towards God
13. By doing so we will have a wonderful reunion party up in heaven
Conclusion
A. If there was one thing I wish I could convey it would be
B. Salvation is the beginning not the end
C. Salvation is where everything should begin
D. Salvation is not the ending point
E. We should never be satisfied knowing that we are saved
F. WE should push forward, become more like Jesus, find out more about God, know more of the Holy Spirit
G. We should been pushing those we have contact with the same way
H. We should want to see them grow in Christ
I. There is nothing better then to getting to know Christ better
J. There is nothing better then seeing your friend getting to know Christ better
K. That is what is about
L. To be more like Jesus
M. To let God make you more like him
N. To experience God’s Righteousness, His Holiness, His Faithfulness
O. To answer the question in the title of the sermon. That’s what!
