That I May Gain Christ

Philippians 3:2-14

Introduction

What a great time we had last weekend at the Franklin Graham Festival. The music was great, it was marvellous to hear the testimonies of Cindy Klassen and Milt Stegall and the others who shared their stories of salvation. The message was clear and direct and many responded to the invitation. I understand that over 2000 responded and about 1200 were first time decisions. That is a lot of new people who are no longer dead, but alive. Some of those people come from our community and even our church and it is up to us now to encourage them and help them grow in faith.

A question that becomes relevant at such a time is, “what is it that we need to teach them?” When we were being trained as counsellors, we were taught that we were not to give enquirers a list of do’s and don’ts that they had to follow if they wanted to be a good Christian. Whenever there are new believers or whenever we are involved in discipling people we have an opportunity to show them how a Christian lives. What is it that we will focus on? What are the things that ought to be included in being disciples of Jesus?

The text which will help us answer this question today is Philippians 3:2-14.

No Confidence In The Flesh

Adding Something

There has been quite a brouhaha in parliament this last week or so because Peter McKay allegedly called Belinda Stronich a dog. I wonder what the press would have done in Paul’s day when he went on the attack and called a certain group of people dogs in Philippians 3:2? Paul was quite direct in his invective against this group who wanted to add circumcision and keeping laws to Christian faith. Whether these people were active in Philippi is uncertain, but Paul certainly was hounded by them all his ministry life. His use of the word “dogs” is interesting. Dogs were looked down upon by Jewish people, almost like pigs and here he turns their own derogatory term against them.

He has another play on words which adds strength to his statement. The Greek word for circumcision is “peritome.” Paul uses the word “katatome” which means mutilation. Why is Paul so angry, so passionate about what these people are doing? The problem was that there were teachers who were saying that it was necessary for Christians to become Jewish if they really wanted to be accepted by God. These teachers were saying that a person who had already been saved, who had his sins forgiven needed to also be circumcised in order to be a real Christian. We need to understand that Paul is not talking here about how a person becomes a Christian. These people were not saying that the way of salvation is through the law. They were saying that after your sins are forgiven by Christ, you need to add the Law of the Jews to your lifestyle if you really want to experience God’s acceptance.

Paul categorically rejects this way of living the Christian life. He immediately talks about what it means to live as God wants us to in verse 3. He says, “we are the circumcision.” Circumcision was a Jewish ceremony which symbolized the cutting off of sin and joining the covenant people of God. Paul’s point is that as Christians, we have already cut off sin by repentance and through Christ’s death and have joined the covenant people of God by faith. Adding the physical ceremony adds nothing to being a Christian. Rather, we are the people who are accepted by God and who live in that acceptance by serving God in the power of the Spirit, by having our glory not in the things we do but in Christ Jesus Himself and so putting no confidence in the flesh. By pointing this out, Paul is saying that there are only two ways of living, “according to the Spirit” or “according to the flesh” and those two ways are mutually incompatible.

Paul’s Testimony

Paul knew very well the futility of putting “confidence in the flesh.” If anyone had reason to think that they could live a life pleasing to God by the things they did, Paul was at the top of the heap. In Philippians 3:4-6, he has a list of all the things that would make him a person who would be acceptable to God. He was circumcised when he was 8 days old. He belonged to the right family. He was a member of the strictest sect of Judaism – the Pharisees. He had demonstrated his zeal for God by persecuting Christians and had kept the outward details of the law perfectly. If there was anyone who could put confidence in the flesh, that is in the ability of any individual to do all that is required to be pleasing to God, Paul was the one. He was saying, If you want to play the “Jewish” game, I can do it better than anyone.

But Paul has utterly rejected living by the law as the way to be pleasing to God – whether in the way we come to Him or in the way we live as His people. Paul clearly goes on to say that “confidence in the flesh,” hope in the ability of any individual to do it is a dead end.

Balance Sheet Thinking

In his strong statement against legalism as the way to live the Christian life, Paul spreads it out on a balance sheet. On one side of the balance sheet was a list of all his family, religious, ability, education, strength and spiritual credentials. On the other side was knowing Jesus. At one time, he considered knowing Jesus as loss and all his credentials as gain, but when he met Jesus, he wrote a big LOSS, on the side that he had considered gain and on the column once considered loss he wrote, GAIN.

The word used for LOSS is actually a word which means damage. Not only is “confidence in the flesh” useless as the way to come to Christ and the way to live the Christian life. It actually causes damage to that way. It can destroy that which really is the way to live for God. In verse 8, NIV also uses the word rubbish. I won’t use the word which one can actually use to translate this word. It is a “well attested vulgarity referring to excrement.” Figure that one out and you will know what I mean. It can also refer to the garbage that is thrown out to the dogs. What Paul is so vehemently asserting is that we can put no confidence in the flesh, that is in our own ability. And remember, he is speaking to Christians, not to people who are coming to faith. He is telling us in no uncertain terms that adding laws to our salvation in Christ will do absolutely nothing to make us people who are pleasing to God. Fee says that for Paul, “grace plus anything cancels out grace.”

In spite of this strong statement rejecting the way of legalism, Christians continue to want to add something to grace. We continue to build systems of rules by which we think that God is looking down on us with favour. We continue to judge each other when we see others fail to live up to our system of obedience. Paul clearly states that those who belong to Christ “put no confidence in the flesh.” Fee says, “it has the effect of adding a plus factor to grace, and thus of eliminating grace altogether by exchanging it for boasting in ‘one’s flesh.’” There is no such thing as a good Christian.

I Want To Know Christ

So how do we live the Christian life? What do we tell these new believers about what it means to follow Jesus?

It Is About Jesus

If it isn’t about adding anything, what is it about? The theme which is repeated over and over in this passage is Jesus. Just look at the repetition and the power of this theme.

Vs. 3 - “we glory in Christ Jesus.”

Vs. 7 – “for the sake of Christ.”

Vs. 8 – “knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” and “I may gain Christ.”

Vs. 9 – “through faith in Christ.”

Vs. 10 – “I want to know Christ.”

Fee says, “the Judaizers have trivialized righteousness by making one’s relationship with God rest ultimately on observance, on the performance of religious trivia…” But Paul points out that it isn’t about perfection, it’s about a relationship.

Paul says, “I want to know Christ.” He uses the word “know” and that word in the Bible is always about an intimate relationship such as that between a child and a parent or between husband and wife.

In verse 8 Paul uses the unusual phrase “Christ Jesus my Lord” by which he once again reveals the intimacy of relationship with Christ which defines our walk as Christians. It isn’t about head knowledge by which we understand the truths of the gospel. It isn’t hand knowledge by which we can do all the right things to make us good Christians. It is heart knowledge by which Jesus is our best friend. He is the one we always go to, the one who is always nearby, the example for our life, the one who defines our existence because we know Him so well.

Knowing Christ

As we read Philippians 3:10,11, we learn a little more about what it means to know Christ. Using that familiar literary device of a chiasm, which we have talked about before, Paul speaks about knowing Christ as knowing the power of His resurrection and participating in His suffering. The pattern is as follows.

A – the power of his resurrection

B – participation in his sufferings

B – conformed to his death

A – that I might attain to the resurrection

Knowing Christ means that we now already experience in our life the power of His resurrection. I understand this to mean that we know what it means to gain victory in our life, that we know that the source of power for living our life of faith is found in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. As we live in relationship to Him, we serve with the power of the Spirit, we become people like Jesus, not by our deeds, but by the power of the His resurrection.

Yet everyone who will be so closely related to Jesus will also discover something else and that is that we will experience suffering. When we have intimacy with Christ, we will learn the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings. Just as Jesus suffered, we will suffer because we live in a hostile environment dedicated to destruction. But suffering of this kind has a powerful benefit. It will result in a renewal by which that which is destructive and meaningless in life will be removed in the suffering and a new kind of living which is an “in Christ” kind of living will take its place.

When Jerry Bridges was 14 years old, he heard his mother call out in the next room, totally unexpectedly, and arrived to see her take her last breath. He also has physical conditions that keep him from normal sports. And a number of years ago his wife died of cancer. Serving God with the Navigators has not spared him pain. His book, Trusting God, Even When Life Hurts, is a deep and helpful book about suffering and going deep with God through affliction.

Over a hundred years ago Horatius Bonar, the Scottish pastor and hymn-writer wrote a little book called Night of Weeping, or, "When God's Children Suffer." It is a tender and deep and wise book. So it's not surprising to hear him say, “It is written by one who is seeking himself to profit by trial, and trembles lest it should pass by as the wind over the rock, leaving it as hard as ever; by one who would in every sorrow draw near to God that he may know Him more, and who is not unwilling to confess that as yet he knows but little."

When we are so closely related to Jesus, we will also “become like him in his death.” It will be the power of God that will lead us to the place Jesus told us to be when he said in Matthew 16:25, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” That is the place where we are willing to suffer the loss of all things in order to gain Him, where we will be willing to give up our life because we are intuitively aware that we are gaining Christ and sharing in His life. Gordon Fee says, “all of Christian life is stamped with the divine imprint of the cross as we live out the gospel in the present age, while we await the hope of resurrection.”

When we know Christ in this way and we suffer the loss of all that is meaningless, we will attain to the resurrection from the dead. Have you ever thought that the only way to experience resurrection is if you have experienced death. Resurrection assumes death. If we are unwilling to experience death “in Christ,” we will miss resurrection as well. If we know Christ in his resurrection power now and if we share in His suffering, then the hope we have is that we will also experience eternal resurrection. That is Paul’s hope and ours as well.

Resurrection power and suffering are not mutually exclusive, they go together hand-in-glove.

I Press On

I Have Not Arrived

Do you know Christ in that way? I don’t! Neither did Paul. He says in Philippians 3:12, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect.” The NIV translation is poor when it says, “or have already been made perfect.” It isn’t about perfection. The word actually means “complete.” What is it that Paul has not completed? Well we know for certain that he is not talking about keeping all the laws by his strength. He has already categorically said that he puts “no confidence in the flesh.” So this is not about finding out all the things we need to do in order to be a good Christian.

What he means is that he is not yet in heaven and that he does not yet know Christ in the way that he wishes. I like this way of putting it, “the ‘goal’ is not ‘perfection’ but the eschatological conclusion of present life.” The ‘prize’ is none other than the final realization of his lifelong passion – the full ‘knowing’ of Christ.”

Not that he was lost. Christ had already taken hold of him. Yet he knows that he does not know Christ as Christ knows him and has made himself known to him. He has a holy dissatisfaction, knowing that he does not know Christ as he wishes.

Pressing On

Recognizing that he is not yet in heaven and does not yet know Christ as he wishes, he indicates that his life is a pursuit. Not a pursuit of perfection. Not a pursuit of doing it all right. It is a pursuit of knowing and being in relationship to the one who has first pursued him.

Using the imagery of a runner, he indicates that he is not going to be distracted. In fact, he picks up once again the language he has used before. “Forgetting what lies behind” is meant to once again refer to what he has so violently discarded, his self righteousness, his “confidence in the flesh.”

Instead he is straining forward, pressing on in the race looking toward one thing and one thing only and that is Jesus Christ. There is nothing more important to him than to know Jesus. This is his immediate goal. He wants to know Jesus and be in an intimate relationship with him today. This is his ultimate goal. On the day when Christ comes again there is nothing more exciting for him than to be able to see Jesus. If the best thing we are looking forward to in heaven is eternal comfort, we have missed the great glory of knowing Christ. If the best thing we are looking forward to in heaven is seeing loved ones, we have missed the wonder of knowing Christ. The way to come to this eternal hope is not by anything we do, no law, no rules, but rather through a relationship of knowing Christ.

John Piper says, “We must go hard after Christ, because not to means that we don't want to know him. And not to want to know Christ is an insult to his value and a sign of spiritual stupor or deadness in us. But when you go hard after Christ, to know him, the reward is your joy and his honour.”

He also says, “A failing student should pursue a special tutor. Nearsighted people should pursue an optometrist. People with strep throat should take antibiotics. Alcoholics should pursue a support group. Young apprentices should follow their master at his work. Not to go hard after Christ means that either you don't trust his power and willingness to change your imperfections, or that you want to cling to your imperfections. In either case, Christ is scorned and we are lost.”

Conclusion

One morning you wake up and walk to the end of the driveway to retrieve your morning paper. You bring it back into the house and sit down with a cup of coffee. As you page through the personals, you notice that your obituary is written up in that days paper. You pinch yourself and look in the mirror to make sure that you are really still alive and then you begin to read what defines your life. As you do you discover what it is that you are known for.

Will you be proud if it says, “he was a good Christian?” Will you be happy if there is a long list of all the service projects and ministries you were involved in? When the final summary of your life is made, what do you wish you will have obtained? I know what Paul would wish was in his life summary. He would wish that it would say, “he knew Jesus.”

I know what I have wished would be on my obituary. I have often wished that it would say, “he knew the Bible” or “he was a faithful servant.” For some time now my thinking has begun to change. I am deeply challenged by the word in this passage. I agree with Paul that more than anything else, I want to know Jesus. What about you?

St. Bernard sang this theme:

We taste Thee, O Thou Living Bread,

And long to feast upon Thee still:

We drink of Thee, the Fountainhead

And thirst our souls from Thee to fill.

Rejoice In The Lord

Philippians 3:1

Introduction

As soon as you put something into print there is the danger that you have made a mistake. Carol is pretty good at getting things right in the church bulletin, but not every church secretary is as good. These are some things that have appeared in church bulletins:

1. Bertha Belch, a missionary from Africa, will be speaking tonight at Calvary Methodist. Come hear Bertha Belch all the way from Africa.

2. Announcement in a church bulletin for a national PRAYER & FASTING Conference: "The cost for attending the Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.

3. Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Don't forget your husbands.

4. The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been cancelled due to a conflict.

5. Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say "Hell" to someone who doesn't care much about you.

6. Miss Charlene Mason sang "I will not pass this way again," giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.

7. For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

8. Next Thursday there will be try outs for the choir. They need all the help they can get.

9. Barbara remains in the hospital and needs blood donors for more transfusions. She is also having trouble sleeping and requests tapes of Pastor Jack's sermons.

10. At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be "What Is Hell?" Come early and listen to our choir practice.

11. Attend and you will hear an excellent speaker and heave a healthy lunch.

12. The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday.

13. Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.

I enjoy good humour. What about this story?

BOOTS!

Did you hear about the Texas Teacher who was helping one of her kindergarten students put on his cowboy boots? He asked for help and she could see why.

Even with her pulling and him pushing, the little boots still didn't want to go on. Finally, when the second boot was on, she had worked up a sweat.

She almost cried when the little boy said, "Teacher, they're on the wrong feet."

She looked and sure enough, they were. It wasn't any easier pulling the boots off than it was putting them on. She managed to keep her cool as together they worked to get the boots back on - this time on the right feet.

He then announced, "These aren't my boots."

She bit her tongue rather than get right in his face and scream, "Why didn't you say so?" like she wanted to. And, once again she struggled to help him pull the ill-fitting boots off his little feet. No sooner they got the boots off and he said, "They're my brother's boots. My Mom made me wear 'em."

Now she didn't know if she should laugh or cry. But, she mustered up the grace and courage she had left to wrestle the boots on his feet again. Helping him into his coat, she asked, "Now, where are your mittens?" He said,

"I stuffed 'em in the toes of my boots."

Her trial starts next month.

We like to laugh. We like to be happy. My sister-in-law is famous for always asking, “Is everybody happy?” Are you happy? Do you have joy? Are these the same questions? This morning, as we continue in our series of messages on Philippians, I would like us to notice that the words joy, rejoice and glad appear 17 times in the NIV Bible. Joy/rejoice is found 14 times and glad 3 times. When we remember that this letter was written by a man who was at this time in prison, this is something we should not ignore. So what does Paul have to say about joy in Philippians?

Rejoice In The Lord

From Galatians 5:22 we know that joy is a fruit of the Spirit. When we become Christians, joy is something that God builds into our lives by His Spirit. In Philippians, however, we find that 3 times once in 3:1 and twice in 4:4 we are commanded to rejoice in the Lord. What does this command mean and how do we obey it?

Rejoice

What is joy?

Merriam-Webster defines it as “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires.” Dictionary.com has several definitions. It says, “the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation.” “A source or cause of keen pleasure or delight; something or someone greatly valued or appreciated.”

By the sounds of it, joy is a good thing, a happy thing, something pleasant. Since it is commanded, it is clear that joy is to be the mark of those who belong to Jesus. Some people have noted that some Christians live their lives as if they have been baptized in vinegar. Another person commented that a horse would make a very good Christian because he has such a long face. These conceptions are antithetical to what the Bible calls us as Christians to be. Gordon Fee says, “Joy, unmitigated, untrammelled joy, is – or at least should be – the distinctive mark of the believer in Christ Jesus.”

Now we know that having a smile on our face is not always possible, so that means that we have either misunderstood what it means to rejoice always or we have misunderstood what joy is. Joy goes much deeper than simply laughing all the time. Most of the time when the word joy appears in this chapter it is based on the Greek word “chairo” which has the meaning which our word joy has. We cannot discount this meaning of joy or make it less than it is. To obey this command means that we are going to be a joyful people. When we were in Hawaii, we attended the Polynesian Cultural Center. The presentation of the Samoa culture included the phrase, “we are the happy people of Samoa.” As Christian we should be known as “the happy people of Christ.”

But there is more to joy than just this. One of the verses which has the word “joy” in it is Philippians 1:26 which says, “so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.” Here the word translated as joy in NIV is not “chairo.” Probably one of the best translations of this word is that found in the RSV which says, “you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus…” The Greek word means boasting, confidence or glorying. This gives us another aspect of what it means to rejoice in the Lord and that is that we put our hope in the Lord, our confident trust in Him. It is the idea found in Jeremiah 9:23,24 which says, “This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.”

Of course if our confidence is in the Lord, we will also experience a great degree of happiness and contentment in our life.

In The Lord

Each time we are commanded to rejoice in 3:1 and 4:4, we notice that our rejoicing is to be “in the Lord.” In Philippians 3:1 it says, “Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.” Philippians 4:4 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” This is where we come to the most important thing we need to learn in this passage. If what we rejoice in is what we put our hope in, then rejoicing “in the Lord” becomes a life changing matter.

Someone asked me a few weeks ago if I had had enough canoeing for the year. My immediate and glad response was, “Of course not.” That is something I love to do and if given the opportunity to do it, I am quick to respond with a “yes.” If someone asked me to shovel out their septic tank, my response would probably not be so enthusiastic. You can tell very quickly what someone rejoices in by their willingness to participate in it. What will our lives look like if we rejoice in the Lord?

I like John Piper’s comments on Psalm 43:4. This verse says, “Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy.” Piper writes, “The final goal of life is not forgiveness or any of God’s good gifts. The final goal of life is God himself, experienced as your exceeding joy. Or very literally from the Hebrew, “God, the gladness of my rejoicing.” That is, God, who in all my rejoicing over all the good things that he had made, is himself, in all my rejoicing, the heart of my joy, the gladness of my joy. Every joy that does not have God as the central gladness of the joy is a hollow joy and in the end will burse like a bubble.

How will we know that God is our joy? We will know when our hearts say a glad “yes” to obeying God’s Word. We will know when our hearts desire to spend time in the presence of the Lord. We will know when telling someone about Jesus is more exciting than telling someone about our latest trip.

Piper also says, “It means that I will always deal with the things of this world in ways that show that they are not my treasure, but rather show that Christ is my treasure.

It means that if I lose any or all the things this world can offer, I will not lose my joy or my treasure or my life, because Christ is all.”

If our participation ins sports is our joy, what happens in our hearts when we injure ourselves or are cut from the team? If our children are our joy, what happens when they move far away or die in an accident? If our life is our joy, what happens when we face the end of life, as all of us will? If God is our joy, what is there in heaven and earth that can take away our joy?

Three times Paul encourages us to “rejoice in the Lord.” Do you rejoice in the Lord?

Always

This call to rejoice in the Lord is, according to Philippians 4:4, to be done always. How can we rejoice in the Lord always?

We can rejoice in the Lord always because we know what the Lord has done for us. It is always worth reflecting on the goodness of the Lord. When we remember that God sent Jesus to die on the cross for us. When we remember that Christ sacrificed Himself for us. When we remember that He rose and is in the presence of the Father in heaven interceding for us, we can rejoice. All of God’s past acts of mercy towards us are cause for rejoicing in the Lord.

We can rejoice in the Lord even in times of suffering. Paul knew what he was talking about. He speaks about the fact that at this time he was in prison in Philippians 1:7:13,14, 17. He specifically addresses his joy in suffering in 2:17,18 when he says, “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. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.” Why did Paul have this willing joy even in the face of possible martyrdom and in the face of difficult service for the Lord? In 1:21 he had already commented on the values of life which allowed him to rejoice even in suffering. Ralph Martin explains, “With Paul his joy is based on a confidence that death is gain because by it Christ is magnified and the gospel proclaimed.”

The Bible has much to say about joy in suffering, but one of my favourite verses is Habakkuk 3:17-19 which says, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.

John Piper says, “The power to rejoice and exult in tribulation comes from omnipotent grace that we receive by trusting in God's promises.” “How are we doing today when things go bad for us? Do we rest in the grace of God and experience joy in God and keep on loving people? Or do we forget the grace of God, overflow with complaining and become self-absorbed and critical instead of loving? So omnipotent power of grace is the key.”

The other reason for joy “always” is because of the promise of eternal life and hope which is ours in Christ. One of my favourite verses on this theme is that given by Paul Romans 8:18, "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us." When we think of that glory, we certainly can be filled with joy always.

What a tremendous, life-changing concept. I invite you to rejoice in the Lord always!

Joy in the Christian Life

As we examine joy and recognize the foundation that it has in the Lord we can begin to understand how it pervades all of life. In Philippians we have already noted the three commands to rejoice in the Lord, but there are 14 other mentions of joy in the passage which arise out of joy in the Lord. The other verses about joy in Philippians help us understand how they permeate all of our life as believers. One of the most significant observations about joy in the Christian life is that it exists in a three way relationship. There is joy in the Lord, the joy Paul has for the Philippians and the joy the Philippians have for Paul and for each other. Please take note of how joy functions in the Christian life.

Joy In Gospel Proclamation

In Philippians 1:18, we already noticed that Paul had great joy when the gospel was being proclaimed. That kind of joy has certainly been my experience in the last few months as we have prepared for the Franklin Graham Festival. Now that we have participated in it, we have had great joy to see all the people who are coming forward to receive Christ. What a joy to be available to council them, to sing in the choir to usher, to do whatever we can to make the name of Jesus known. Our lives are filled with many things, but surely there is nothing as thrilling as being a part of a venture that is making the invitation to dead people to become alive. If our joy is in the Lord, then we can participate in this joy often as we live and speak our faith in the world.

Joy In The Faith

In Philippians 1:25,26, Paul speaks of his desire to return to them “for your progress and joy in the faith.” Paul is very glad for the Philippian brothers and sisters. He is glad when they make progress and when joy and faith combine to increase and the believers are growing. As much as I have rejoiced about the people coming forward to receive Christ, I have to admit that the greater joy for me is when I see believers mature in their faith. I get quite excited when I see young people give their lives to serve the Lord in ministry. It is a joy when I see people change and come to love God and desire to know Him and His word.

Joy In Unity

In 2:2, Paul indicates that he rejoices when there is unity in the body of Christ. Someone mentioned recently that Mennonites are a peace church. Yes, it says that in our constitution and we value it, but do we live it in our relationships with each other? I am thinking about a conflict I had with someone some years ago. There is joy in my heart when I think about the good relationship we have now. Will we seek peace and experience the joy of having one heart and one purpose?

Joy In Community

There is another joy we see demonstrated throughout this passage and that is the joy which exists between people in the community of faith. In Philippians 2:28,29, Paul is talking about the relationship of the Philippians to Epaphroditus. Epaphroditus had been sick but had been restored to health. Paul was hoping to send him to the Philippians and in these verses expresses the joy that will happen when he returns – they will be glad, Paul will rejoice and they will receive him with joy.

In Philippians 4:1, Paul expresses his feelings about the Philippians. He indicates that they are his “joy and crown.” Once again we see some of the joy that exists between believers.

Then in 4:10, he once again expresses the joy he has because they have helped him.

What a blessing to be a part of a faith community. The joy we all have in the Lord is a joy that is then shared by all of us as brothers and sisters. Now I know that it isn’t always like that. Why not? We all rejoice in the same Lord. We love the Lord and we can therefore have the same love for each other. In part, this is an encouragement to live in that joy rather than in the sourness of conflict. Yet, there are so many ways in which we do have joy. When someone is sick and experiences support, when someone needs prayer and a whole bunch of people pray, when a relative becomes a believer and we all rejoice together, when we go on a retreat and begin a game of Settlers at 2:30 in the morning or just sit around a fire and share or when simply enjoy each others company because we all share the same values, then we experience the wonder of the joy that is ours in community because we rejoice in the Lord.

Conclusion

So what have we learned? First of all, we have a command. We are to rejoice in the Lord. Furthermore, when we rejoice in the Lord, we also experience joy in many ways and in many places in our Christian walk.

Do we rejoice in the relationship we have with each other? Does our joy in each other come from our relationship with each other? How is it related to our joy in the Lord?

Joy is a good thing. We can live in this good thing! Let’s do it!

Blameless Children Of God

Philippians 2:12-18

Introduction

Whenever I have been in the city on a particularly messy day, like a melting day in March, and I come home after dark, there is a problem. As long as I am in the city and the street lights are bright, there is no problem. But as soon as I leave the city and it is dark all around, I suddenly realize that the headlights on my van are not working very well. They are dirty and therefore don’t illuminate where I am going very well at all.

As Christians, we are called to be the “light of the world” as Jesus says in Matthew, but if our lives are dirty, covered with disobedience or the mess of the world, how can we shine as lights?

Have you ever been plunged into darkness because of a power failure? You stumble about in the dark, carefully trying not to walk into a door or trip on something you left on the floor, until you find the flashlight. You turn it on expecting light to illumine your path, but find that the battery is almost dead and the flashlight does not help you. As Christians, we need God’s help in order to shine as lights.

A few weeks ago, we noticed that Philippians 1:27-2:18 is a unit in which the primary theme is the proclamation of the gospel. The content of this section has three ideas that support this primary theme. One is that we should not be afraid if, as we shine as lights, we are being opposed. Suffering for our faith is a normal part of the Christian life and we should expect it and allow God to help us in it. The second idea is that if we are going to shine brightly, we need to be one in the body of Christ. Unity is essential for a clear signal to be sent into the world. The third idea, introduced in 1:27 is, as The Message says, “live in such a way that you are a credit to the Message of Christ.” This morning, we want to examine this third idea as it is presented in Philippians 2:12-28. Let us read these verses.

As he addresses the readers, he addresses them as “my dear friends.” He is not berating them, but out of a pastoral heart, he is appealing to them to live in a worthy manner.

Work Out Your Salvation

The word “therefore,” which begins this section, makes a connection with what has just preceded. A few weeks ago, we examined the example of Christ who was selfless and humble as He gave himself for our salvation. The call to obedience is anchored in the obedience of Jesus Christ.

Obedience

In verse 12, there is a call to obedience. This call is repeated twice. First of all he says “as you have always obeyed” and then repeats the same idea when he says, “work out your salvation.” These are the same idea, but we need to be careful that we understand what is meant by this idea.

There has been some confusion about the meaning of the phrase, “work out your salvation.” What we need to be very clear about is that it does not say, “work for your salvation.” Salvation is not something that we receive by the work that we do. Our sins are forgiven and we are saved from eternal death as a gift from God, which is given to us when we believe. Faith is not a work, it is a way of stopping work and trusting that God has accomplished our salvation. Salvation becomes ours as we believe that God has given it to us.

Rather, it says, “work out your salvation” which means that when we have become believers, we ought to continue to learn what it means to live as a Christian. Gordon Fee has two important things to say about this. First of all, he says, “it is an ethical text, dealing with ‘how saved people live out their salvation’…” In other words, living the Christian life is a path of discovering what it means to live for God. The idea of “work out” suggests that it is a process of learning, a process of growing in a relationship with God. The question we must never stop asking is, “How can I live a life which glorifies God?” The other thing Fee says is, “for Paul faith in Christ is ultimately expressed as obedience to Christ, not in the sense of following the rules, but of coming totally under His lordship, of being devoted completely to him.” What that means is that “working out our salvation” does not mean making a list of rules we should follow as Christians. That leads us back into bondage and back into legalism. Instead, it means absolute surrender to Jesus Christ as the one who rules in our life. It is a relationship guided by the Spirit of God. It is, not a commitment, but rather a surrender to Christ.

As we read on, we discover that striving to live in a way which fits with our calling as Christians is to be done “with fear and trembling.” What does that mean? What is it that we could be afraid of? If I think of living the Christian life as God wants me to, there are several things I fear. I fear the world around me which can have a negative influence on me. If I am appropriately afraid of the influence of the world, I will be very careful not to let it influence me. I also fear the evil I am capable of. I know my own heart and that I can easily fall into sin. If I have an appropriate fear of my own tendencies, I will build a relationship with God and I will build safeguards into my life which help me not to stumble and fall. I also fear God because I know that He is the Lord and ultimately the judge. I do not think that this fear should terrorize us because we know the grace of God, but it should lead us to live our whole life with a proper respect for God and lead us to live in awe of Him.

Another aspect of “working out your salvation” is given in the words of Paul when he says, “not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence.” Paul had been with this church and when he was, they had grasped the gospel and had begun to follow Christ faithfully. But Paul was now not with them and he is encouraging them to follow Christ faithfully as they had previously even though he is not there to encourage them. As we follow Christ, it must also be something we do even when other Christians are not keeping an eye on us. If we are only faithful Christians when other Christians are watching, or when we know that we have to be an example, then we have not really caught the life and power of our relationship with Christ. Paul’s comment encourages a life of faith lived with integrity at all times. They are to do it not for him, “when I am present” but for God, “even when I am absent.” A leader is important as a prompter, but we must grow beyond dependence on a leader or anyone else and learn to depend on God alone.

So using the imagery of light which I mentioned at the beginning, we have responsibility to keep the lens clean, because as the next section tells us, the battery will never become weak.

God Works In You

What an encouragement this next verse is to us as we are to walk in faithfulness, especially when we know our weakness and the fear of the Lord.

The verse has power as it says, “it is God who works” The one who is helping us and working in us is God. Although we need to make an effort and learn and grow, God is at work. Although the Word of God is our guide and helps us understand God’s truth, God Himself is at work. Although the fellowship of believers is a great encouragement and a wonderful help to keep us accountable, God, our creator and redeemer is at work.

God is the one who empowers our obedience. He gives us what we need to help us obey. The text points to two ways in which this happens. First of all, God gives us the will to do what is right. If God did not do this, we would not think about our actions very much. If God did not do this, we would not listen to our conscience. One of the most powerful things that happens when we become Christians is that God gives us a new heart. It is that new heart that is turned towards God that is the first evidence that God is at work in us “to will.” Furthermore, whenever our conscience bothers us, God is also at work in us. When we sense the prompting of the Spirit, after we have sinned, we have evidence that God is in us “to will.”

But God also supplies power “to act.” Whenever we have the ability to do the things that are right, it is God who has given us this power. But, I can hear the objections – “that is a nice Scripture, but it doesn’t work for me.” That is the voice of discouragement. It may be the voice of disobedience. It may be the temptation of Satan to bring you down. The very fact that we have a bad conscience is God at work. The fact that we feel bad about sin is God at work. The desire to change that behaviour is God at work. Another encouragement that God is at work comes when we take a long term view of things. Often as we look at a week or a month or a year, we may not see much change, but if we look over a longer period, 10 or 20 years, we will see a difference. Whenever we become discouraged about persistent sins, we need to yield them to God once again because God is at work in us. Whenever we feel distant from God, we should trust Him anyway because He is at work in us.

He does this, as the text says, “according to his good purpose.” God is at work in us first of all because it pleases Him to make us into new creatures. This is not a selfish act, but an act of blessing, because whatever pleases God, is always to our benefit because God is good.

Not Complaining or Arguing

The call to obedience is a fairly general call, however, Paul does get specific in verse 14a when he says, “do everything without complaining or arguing.”

The words, “complaining and arguing” have a strong OT flavour to them. In the Old Testament when Israel was traveling from Egypt to the promised land, they repeatedly complained, or grumbled or murmured against God. They did not like the way He was leading them. In Exodus 16:12, when they ran out of food, it says, “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites.” This imagery is behind this verse in Philippians. Paul mentions it again in I Corinthians 10:9,10 when he reminds them, “We should not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.” Testing the Lord and grumbling about the way God is handling things will not help us live in obedience. It is a sign of unbelief and we need to learn, even through our struggles to put our faith in the Lord.

The other word is arguing and reminds us of another picture from the same period of Israelite history. In Exodus 17:2 it says, “So they quarreled with Moses…” Disunity, which we have already talked about, arguing with leaders as the Israelites did and quarrels in the church as Paul speaks of later in Philippians 4:2 when he pleads with Euodia and Syntyche to get along are not the way to grow in faith. As people who are working out our salvation, we are encouraged by this text to find a way to have one heart with each other rather than arguing with each other and building disunity.

So in these verses, God’s Word calls us to obedience and particularly in the matters of trusting God and having unity in the body of Christ.

Shining “In The Midst”

Why is it so important for us to be obedient to God, to be “working out our salvation?” Paul moves toward answering that question when he says in verse 14, “so that.”

He explains by reminding us about where we live. The word “in” appears twice in these verses and introduces the idea that we live in a context. We do not live in heaven, otherwise we wouldn’t have to be thinking about these things, we would already be complete. On the other hand, we do not belong to this earth. If we did, we would not have to think about living like God’s people. We would live just like everyone else. We are people who are in between. We are God’s people, who nevertheless live on earth. The implications of that are powerful!

Blameless In A Depraved Generation

The world around us is described as “a crooked and depraved generation.” We are sometimes surprised at the evil in the world? But why should we be surprised? The world is acting like it naturally is.

We are called to live in obedience to God as a striking contrast to the world around us. Instead of being crooked and depraved like the world, we are to be “blameless and pure children of God.”

As blameless people, we need to live in such a way that no one can point a finger at us. Do we live with integrity so that no one can accuse us of shady dealing in business? Do we live with compassion so that no one can accuse us of gossip or judging? Do we live with honour so that when we leave a place people say, “it was nice to have you here.” Do we live with honesty so that we will never fear the flashing of police lights?

As pure people, we are to be unmixed. The word pure is used in the Greek language to refer to metals that do not have an alloy or to wine that is not mixed with something else. When people look at our life, do they see people whose first love is the Lord Jesus Christ or do they see people who love Jesus, but also have a strong dose of self love?

So “working out our salvation” is important so that it is evident to all the world around us that we have indeed been changed by God.

Shining In A Dark World

The second image which explains the importance of obedience is that we “shine like stars in the universe.” Once again the idea is that there is a world out there looking at us and watching how we live.

The world is in darkness and in that great darkness, there are little points of light which show that darkness is not inevitable. We are those little stars shining in that dark world to demonstrate the light that God has come to bring into the world. I spoke with someone recently who described how the countryside became bright when electricity came to the farms. Before that, a few candles and lanterns shed a little bit of light to finish chores or find the way back to the house, but the general countryside was dark. When electric lights came in, suddenly every farm was illuminated with yard lights and the general outlook of things was much brighter. We are to be such a bright light source to the world of darkness to show them the light of God as we hold forth His word by our lives and by what we say.

Of course, you know what happened to Jesus who is also described as a light. John 1 says that the people loved darkness rather than light. So when we shine as lights, we will also encounter people who love the darkness rather than the light. If we shine as lights in the world, people will see the dirt of their lives and many of them would rather hide the dirt in the darkness than have it revealed. That is why Christians will always encounter persecution. We need to know that and live with it, but it should never cause us to stop being obedient and working out our salvation so that we can shine as lights as we “hold out the word of life.” God’s truth is communicated through our lives and through our words and that is how the world will see the light of God’s truth.

Conclusion

Have you ever read the results of a foot race? Sometimes the words “disqualified” are seen beside a runners name. He may have finished the race and had a great time, but somewhere on the course he did something which was illegal and all his effort, all his hard work, even his good time is worthless because he was disqualified.

Paul appeals to them using a very personal word. He says in essence, “If you are faithful and obedient, then my whole life will have been worthwhile. If you throw it all away, then all the work I have done will be worth nothing.” He is not trying to make himself look good by this, but is demonstrating the tremendous love he has for them.

As Paul appeals to them in this way, he has the end in view. His reference to the “day of Christ” indicates that he is talking about the day that is yet to come when Jesus will come back. There is a sense in which all of our struggle, our working out our salvation, our effort at faithfulness, our desire to shine as lights has a view towards the end. There is a day coming and we are striving towards that day, we are looking forward to that day. Then we will know that all the difficulty and struggle will have been worthwhile.

We live in what Gordon Fee calls a “severely twisted world.” How are we going to live in it? Not with grumbling or arguing, but with behaviour that is different than the world. We will live with the recognition that we are here as God’s representatives, as a light, as a contrast to that world. May we have courage to work out our salvation so that the world will see God. May we make it our life priority to obey with a view to what is yet to come.