Work It On Out Series

WORK IT ON OUT

Philippians 2.12-30

S: Christian Living

Th: Toward the Goal

Pr: LIVE THE LIFE THAT IS IN YOU.

?: How? How do we do that?

KW: Instructions

TS: We will find in our study of Philippians three instructions of how to live the life that is in us followers of Jesus.

CV: “We will passionately pursue full devotion to Jesus Christ.” – by growing in Christlikeness

Type: Propositional

I. NEGATE NEGATIVITY (14-15)

II. LIGHTEN UP (15-16)

III. EXAMINE THE EXAMPLES (17-30)

PA: How is the change to be observed?

• Actively work toward Christlikeness – which is God’s purpose for us.

• Build up, don’t tear down.

• Be light in darkness.

• Keep the Word central.

• Follow the good examples.

Version: ESV

RMBC 29 June 08 AM

INTRODUCTION:

We are continuing in our study of Philippians today where our theme is “Toward the Goal.”

We were reminded last week about what it means to achieve that goal.

We talked about soccer, and how one wins.

With teamwork, you move the ball downfield, so that in the end, you get more balls in the goal than your opponent.

We then spoke about how we do that as Christians, and we learned that by following the humble example of Jesus, we move toward the goal.

So…

1. Are you moving “Toward the Goal” (12-13)?

After giving us one of the most beautiful portions of Scripture that describe Jesus, Paul moves on to explain how we continue to move toward the goal.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

We are told here to work out our salvation.

There is an important distinctive that we must make here.

Paul does not say that we are to work for our salvation.

We can’t do that, because salvation is essentially a gift.

It cannot be earned.

But once we have received that salvation, it is time work it on out.

Please note this:

We must work out what grace has worked in.

The NIV gives an excellent translation here by telling us to “continue to work out” our salvation.

In other words, by a sustained effort, we are to keep working out the grace that is inside of us.

You see, we are to…

2. Actively work toward Christlikeness.

That’s God’s purpose for us.

It is His good purpose.

So, because we have God’s energy inside of us…the Holy Spirit resides in us…we are to be energetic as we live this Christian life.

This reflects one of our core values here at Randall, that is…

3. Value: “We will passionately pursue full devotion to Jesus Christ.”

We want to be known as a people that are all out for Jesus.

We want to be known as a people that live out the joy of our salvation.

We want to be known as a people that are actively growing in Christlikeness.

But how does this happen?

ILL Power (S)

We live in an age of movie super heroes, the first and most famous of whom, probably, is Superman.

Every super hero takes on one element of the Superman story, and that is that Superman has another identity, that of Clark Kent, the mild mannered reporter who wears horn-rimmed glasses, a conservative suit, and has a dumpy look on his face. Clark Kent fumbles his way through life; he is always on the periphery of the excitement; he never manages to handle situations properly. But everybody knows that underneath that business suit someone powerful, someone more dramatic and wonderful resides.

In some sense the same thing ought to be true of us in our relationship with Christ.

We may look ordinary.

We may look exactly like we did before we came to Christ.

We may be people who always find ourselves on the periphery of things.

We may not be highly respected in the community.

Yet if we see ourselves as we should, we will realize the fact that God himself is at work within us, changing our hearts so that we choose what is right, empowering us to do what is right.

We are not ordinary, commonplace nobodies.

We are full of God’s life.

So…

4. LIVE THE LIFE THAT IS IN YOU.

Today, we are going to discover how we can do that.

We will find in our study of Philippians three instructions of how to live the life that is in us followers of Jesus.

OUR STUDY:

The first instruction is…

I. NEGATE NEGATIVITY (14-15)

ILL Complain (H)

A man goes to a diner every day for lunch. He always orders the soup du jour. One day the manager asks him how he liked his meal.