Chris McCurley: Stuck with me tonight. I hope that's okay. I'm stuck with you as well. I I was standing out in the lobby and it was brought to my attention that there is a gray Nissan SUV that is running. I don't know if that's ⁓ one of those fancy cars that shuts off by itself, but ⁓ if you need to go and turn it off, you might want to do that. That's not a joke. I'm serious. Somebody said that there's a gray Nissan SUV in the parking lot that is running. You ever ⁓ Use a word or phrase incorrectly, and quite some time later somebody points out to you that you've been using that word or phrase incorrectly. It's quite embarrassing. When I first started preaching, I used the phrase in lieu of quite a bit. But I didn't use it correctly. I use it like this. I might say something like, In lieu of football, how many points is a touchdown work? I used in lieu of as pertaining to, which you people are smart, you know that that's not the correct usage. And one night I was preaching and I'd used the phrase in lieu of incorrectly, and afterwards some sweet little lady came up to me and kind of whispered, That's not what that means. And I was so glad that she corrected me, even though it was embarrassing. So in lieu of that, let's look at what ⁓ Philippians two and twelve says. We've been discussing how Many verses in the Bible get plucked out of context. They get misused and abused and misapplied and perverted and twisted. And tonight is one of those that we see the victim of that quite often. This is Philippians 2 and 12. Paul writes, 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. And this verse gets used a lot improperly. And Sometimes it's used as, hey, you've got to work out your own salvation. I've got to work out mine. It's always personal. You do you, figure it out, I'll figure it out, and you know, hopefully we get close, right? Sometimes it's used in the context of salvation being reliant upon man's efforts. And so you have to work your way into heaven. You have to earn your salvation. And ⁓ obviously these are are not correct conclusions. So what does it actually mean? You've heard me say before over and over, you'll get sick of hearing me say it probably, but in order to understand a passage correctly and make the proper application, you you've got to do some digging and you've got to consider the context around what is being said. And there are some context clues that the Bible gives us every now and then that helps us out. And one of those is the word therefore. Because anytime you see that word therefore, you know that the writer is connecting with what has just been said to what he is about to say, that those two thoughts go together. And that is what Paul has done here for us. But if we want to get the proper context to understand exactly what Paul means in Philippians 2 and 12, you got to back up. And let's back up all the way to Philippians chapter 1. And let's start reading in verse 21. Paul says, For to me to live is Christ, and to die is game. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which shall I choose, I cannot tell. I'm hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convicted of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me You may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you again. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation and that from God. For it has been granted to you. That for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had, and now hear that I still have. Now, verses 21 through 24 of Philippians 1 presents kind of a dilemma for Paul. This is a a dilemma he is dealing with because if he had his druthers, he would rather be at home with the Lord. He'd rather be in heaven with God and Jesus. But He also understands that there is much work still to be done, and I don't know what's going on with this microphone, but it's a drive about to drive me nuts. I saw one preacher one time stick it up through. The shirt. It's holding the shirt so it's like this. I may have to go do that. Paul is saying, I would rather be in heaven, but I know for your sake it would be better if I'm here. Because obviously the Lord has more work for me to do. I'm here, I'm still alive. That means I've got something else to do. It kind of reminds me of the sweet little old lady that lived in Abilene, Texas when I was there. She was ninety-nine, Miss Jimmy, and Jimmy wanted so badly to die. She was so ready, as she said, I just don't understand why the Lord's keeping me alive. And I said, Well, you probably better figure that out, right? Because if you're kept alive, God's got something else for you to do, probably. And that's what Paul understands. There's fruitful labor that needs to be done. God has a mission for me, and I need to carry it out. If it were up to me, I'd be with him. But as it is, I got work to do here. And so that is the context that we're looking at here. Paul always focuses in his letters on unity at some point. In fact, that's a major theme throughout his writings. And certainly that's the case here, is he's talking about being of one. spirit and being on the same page with one another because Paul understands something that we all should understand, and that is our unity is a huge evangelistic tool. When people see us united, speaking the same thing, reading from the same script, it does a lot for our our mission and our power in our evangelism. And so Paul is encouraging these Christians to remain faithful, to be on the same page, to be unified. He's admonishing these Christians to press on, stay together, Endure the persecution and cling to one another as you cling to God. Now turn over to chapter two, and beginning of verse one, it reads like this. So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. And so Paul is continuing his courage, encouragement. Be on the same page. Have the same love for God and for one another. Make certain that you're all of one accord. The devil loves disharmony and disjointedness. And when the church is not unified, the devil doesn't have to do anything. He can sit back and just watch the proceedings. My son was a tennis player. And when he was in junior high, he won a match without ever swinging his racket. I say that he won a game, I guess would be the proper way to put it. He won a game without ever swinging his racket because his opponent served it into the net every time. So he committed however many four double faults, is that right? And then he ended up winning. Never had to swing his racket. His opponent just kept hitting the ball into the net. And when the church is not on the same page, when there's backfighting and backbiting and infighting, quarreling and all of that, the devil just sits back and he watches the proceedings. He watches us devour ourselves. And Paul says, the devil loves his harmony. Stay on the same page. Read from the same script. Make certain that you are unified in all that you do. Then he speaks of the need to put yourself second, which is a huge key if you want to have harmony and unity. Notice verses three and following of Philippians 2. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also the interest of others. Have this mind among yourselves. Which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confessed and That Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. So Paul is urging the Philippian brethren to be selflessly united. In essence, he's saying, it's not about you. And what a what a wonderful mantra that would be for all of us to carry with us when it comes to the Lord's church. It's not about you. It's always about us. It's not about me, it's about we. And if you miss that, you miss the entire point of what Paul is writing here. So again, verse twelve of Philippians two begins with the word therefore. So what Paul is about to say is playing off of what Paul just said. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now not only as in my presence, but much much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is good God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. You know, I've I've heard people say you don't have to be a Greek scholar to understand the Bible. And to that I would wholeheartedly agree. But there are times when knowing the Greek really helps us clear up some confusion. To understand the Greek structure of a sentence, to understand some Greek words, to understand the language to some degree is going to help clear up some misconceptions a lot of times. And certainly that is the case here. The word work out. In the Greek, that phrase workout is a rather complex Greek word, katurgozomai, which means to labor or toil in order to bring something to completion or fulfillment. So, what Paul is saying to the Philippian brethren is that they must strive or work together to bring their salvation to completeness or fulfillment. And he's essentially Just restating what he stated in Philippians 1 27. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ. It's very similar to what he said over in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 1, when he said, Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. And notice again that the theme in those two verses, as well as Philippians 2 and 12, is what? It's unity. Again, that's a major theme in Paul's writings. So salvation is not worked out. In our lives, it has not been completed in us until we are of one mind and one spirit, and our brothers and sisters in Christ are on the same page, working towards the same goal. Doesn't mean that we agree on every scruple or every opinion, but it means that we are together when it comes to the ones that Paul mentions later, one faith, one Lord, one baptism, all those ones. We've got to be reading from the same script when it comes to those things. And then notice verses fourteen and following. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish, in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Like we said a moment ago, grumbling and despair. Disputing and infighting and backbiting and quarrels and complaining, these are diametrically opposed to what our Lord intended for his church. I think what Paul is saying, if I could put words in his mouth, is don't be a wart. You know, this is a beautiful bride, and you can be a wart right on her nose because of the way you act or the way you carry yourself. Don't be a wart, don't be a blemish, don't be a scar, don't be a pimple on the Lord's church. Make certain that you are the reason that this body is unified and thriving and not the reason why she's being held back. Too many times our shepherds have to pet billy goats instead of leading sheep. Don't be one of those billy goats that they constantly have to pet. Be one of the sheep that follows and that seeks ultimately to follow Jesus. You know, God designed this church, he established it. Christ purchased it member by member with his own blood. How dare we treat this body in a selfish manner? How dare we? Be a wart on her beautiful, beautiful face. You'll notice that Paul uses the phrase your own. Work out your own salvation. And this can be confusing because it has led some to believe that this is something each person must do on their own. And that's a really easy place to come to for us because as Westerners, we live in an individualistic culture. Everything's about the individual. And even in church life, we talk about personal. Salvation and a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior, which is all true. But Easterners, many of them still today, live in a communal society. And certainly in biblical times, it was a communal society. And the church definitely was a communal society. We read about that in Acts. People were pooling their resources so they could help one another. I mean, everyone looked out for one another because it was anything but an individualistic society. And so when you read work out your own salvation, it's easy to just read our sentiments into it as Westerners and say, yeah, this is a a ⁓ personal, private thing. But you'll notice when you dig a little deeper that because this passage is talking about unity, and because Paul is addressing the church, he's not focusing in on one individual. And it was not intended for those reading it for the first time to focus only on the individual. Occasionally you'll hear people say this, well, you just have to work out your own salvation, I have to work out mine. But understand that that sentiment stands in direct opposition to what Paul is saying. We collectively work out our own salvation together. That is the point of the passage. We do this by being of the same mind, by reading from the same script. Being of the same spirit. We do this by submitting to one another. We do this by being on the same page. This is not something that can be done individually. The context of Paul's words are within the framework of the church, the community that we all are blessed to be a part of. Plus, all of the Greek words here are plural, not singular, pointing to the fact that this is a communal thing, not an individualistic thing. So what about the phrase fear and trembling? What does that have to say to us? Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Well, I I don't think that's as as difficult. I mean, we understand fear, we we fear the Lord, we we have reverence for God. This becomes easier to understand when we grasp the context as well. Paul used similar language throughout his letters, ⁓ even to the various other churches. For instance, remember what he wrote in Ephesians 5 21? Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. You do this because you love God. You do this because you respect Him. You do this because of the teachings of our Lord. Because this is what a church looks like. And this is what individual Christians who make up the church look like. We fear God. We we revere Christ. We stand in awe of our Lord and King. And because we love and respect him so much, we fear disappointing him. We don't want to disappoint him. We don't want to let him down. We desperately want to live out our calling as children of God. The last thing we want to do is be a pimple or a wart on the nose of the church. And so we do what we commands us to do. We live as he would have us to live. And that includes submitting to one another. That includes putting ourselves second. And that includes making certain that we don't make it all about me all the time. In other words, a reverence for Christ. Looks like selfless unity in the church. Now once you notice verse 13 again, Paul writes, For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. God is working to bring about this transformation in you. You know this, but we're all wet paint, right? We are all a construction zone. And there's a fancy theological word for this. It's called sanctification, it's the process of progress. And we grow and we mature, we gain knowledge along the way, we grow closer to God, hopefully along the way. As long as we submit to the process, then that process will eventually come to completion at death, right? At this time, though, we are submitting to the process as a group, as a community, and we're letting God do his work to transform us into the people that he wants us to be. We strive to be more like him. We live a surrendered life. And we must work hard to be completed. And some might say, well, so so you're saying that our salvation is based on works. And to that I would answer yes and no. Right? Yes and no. Both God and man are involved in the salvation process. I think you know that. And maybe we should exit off the interstate here for just a second. But when it comes to our salvation, God had to intervene because we were completely helpless. The Bible tells us that you were dead in your trespasses and sins. Dead. You weren't sick so that just the right dose of medicine could get you well. You were dead. And dead people have no earning power. There's nothing you can do in a dead state. Only God and Jesus are in the resurrection business, right? So you have to submit to the commands of what God is presenting. When he presents this free gift of salvation. You know that that's conditional. We talked about that many times over. Christianity is a grace faith system, which means that God provides and man receives. If grace had not acted, man could not be saved. And if man does not act, he can't be saved. Faith is the proper response to the grace of God. And God describes, grace describes God's part in salvation, and faith describes man's part. The free gift of grace has been offered to all. That's Titus chapter two and verse eleven. But you know as well as I do that not everyone is saved. Because while the gift is offered, it has to be received as well. I must respond. And the way I respond is through faith. Sometimes I'll have people say to me, Well, you believe that you have to work your way into heaven. And I say, I don't believe that at all. You say, Well, you believe that baptism saves. I said, Yes, I believe that faith saves. And sometimes they look at me confused because that's not what they have heard about me their entire life. We all believe that you are saved by grace through faith. That's what the Bible teaches, that's what we believe. Right? But if you do a word study on faith, pistis in the Greek, this is one of those times where studying the Greek can clear up a lot of confusion. And pistis was always understood in the biblical world as an action. It wasn't a mental ascent. It wasn't something you just believed and you moved on. Faith always was tied to allegiance, to fidelity, to loyalty, and we'll study this later. But faith had strings attached. You always hear about this: no strings attached, grace, and no strings attached gospel. That doesn't add up when you study the scriptures, especially when you study the culture and when you study the word faith. It was always believed that faith had strings attached, and that faith was an action item. That faith would lead one to doing other things in order to accept the gift, right? Now, what does that lead to if we're talking about faith leaving something else? Well, you know, right? You know it leads to repentance. It should lead to confessing Jesus, not just one time before baptism, but for the rest of your life, and it should lead to baptism for the remission of sins. But It bothers me when I hear people sometimes say, Well, you know, the Old Testament, you know, God was God was he was mean, he was radical, he was ⁓ he was uncaring, unsympathetic, he was he was one that ⁓ you know had a a a real a a real temper, ready to strike people down and without any type of warning. But you get over to the New Testament and God mellows out and and now you have grace. But folks, there was grace in the Old Testament. Genesis 6 and 8 shows us the grace that was afforded to Noah and his family. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Abraham was not blessed because he deserved it. In fact, when you see Abraham introduced to us in Scripture, there's nothing that really indicates that he was any sort of faithful man of God. Jonah is a book on grace. Hosea is the epitome of grace. But you'll notice with these examples that all of these people had to respond. There was an expectation to respond. And you'll notice over and over again that the response was in line with whatever God commanded them to do. Take Noah, for example, the writer of Hebrews tells us that the patriarch and his family were saved by preparing an ark in obedience to God's instruction. That's Hebrews chapter 11, verse 7. By faith. Noah obeyed the Lord and he was blessed. And God extends that grace, but we must be willing to receive the favor. And the only obvious response to grace is faith. It's a faith in God that cannot exist without obedience. And when we cheapen obedience, we cheapen grace. We cheapen the cross. When we portray grace as a gift of void of any human ⁓ obligation than we cheapen the suffering of Christ and what he endured on the behalf of all of sinners? All Christians sitting here this evening are the beneficiary of God's grace. He extended that gift on the cross, you accepted, but that wasn't the end. Now comes the task of remaining faithful, right? And as I'm sure you've noticed, that's not always easy. And that's where the rest of us come in. And that's why this is not only personal and individual. It's communal. Because God did not ever expect us to practice Christianity on an island. He never expected us to be Lone Ranger Christians. The reason why the church exists, at least in part, is so that we have a family that can Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. We're there to pick each other up when we fall. We are there to help one another work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, to draw closer to God and submit to this process of progress called sanctification so that we can grow and mature and be ready when Jesus comes back. Does that all make sense? You see how this fits within the context of what Paul is writing? I think if Paul were writing to the citizens of Dixon County. Rather than the Philippians, it might read, work out your own salvation, Walnut Street, with fear and trembling. Because I think Paul is you is admonishing us to be united, to be united because unity is a sure sign of salvation. Work together to bring your salvation to fulfillment. Let God work in us to bring the church to his good pleasure. So that we can present the church to him in splendor without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. And that is the context of Philippians two and twelve. It speaks to us as much today as it did to the people back then. Any of you ever been to the Statue of Liberty? You've seen the Statue of Liberty on TV if you hadn't been there in person, right? Everybody knows what the Statue of Liberty is. You know what the two purposes for the Statue of Liberty were originally? The two purposes for the Statue of Liberty were one, to show the way, and two, offer hope to those in need. Is that not the church? Is that not us that we are to show the way and offer hope to those in need? Philippians two, fourteen through eighteen. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain, even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you should also be glad and rejoice with me. So we are to hold fast to the word of life, to shine as lights in the world. We are to illuminate the gospel and offer hope to a dying world. In a very real sense, Walnut Street is a statue of liberty. While this building is not the church, it's a building that houses the people who make up the church. You might could look at it as the building at Walnut Street on the corner of Center Avenue and Walnut is a Statue of Liberty that people can look at and hopefully say, Yeah, the people inside there. They show the way. They offer hope. But we cannot do that if we're not all on the same page. We cannot do that if we're not all reading from the same script. If we're grumbling or if we're complaining or if we're constantly fighting or backbiting. We we can't be who God expects us to be, and we can't show the world the unity that makes us so strong. So Paul is admonishing us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, so that our efforts may bring about the desired results. And if you remember nothing else from this, remember, it's not me, it's we. And if we can help you tonight, if maybe you've not been on the same page, maybe you need the prayers of this church family. Maybe there's ⁓ maybe you need some hope. And I can tell you, there is no better hope than connecting with Christ. It starts with that faith that leads you to repentance and confession and being baptized for the remission of your sins and then beginning a daily walk with him and these fine people. We can help you with that as well. Ben's got a song. If we have a need, you'd like to respond, come as we stand and as we sing.