As believers, we are given a new way to live and a new message to share. In Christ, we are given a new identity and a new future. Most importantly, we are transformed into a “new-er” version of ourselves.
As disciples of Jesus Christ, we need to pay attention to the writings of the apostle Paul. This veteran soldier of the cross, this great missionary leader, this warmhearted pastor was seeking not only to glorify God, but to point out those human responses that were essential for spiritual growth and effectiveness in witnessing.
Philippians 2:12-13 NLT Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
In the words of our text, Paul was encouraging the disciples at Philippi to cooperate with God as he carried on a good work within them.
For an audio recording of the sermon click the YouTube link at the end of this manuscript.
To see a video of the entire service click this link https://youtu.be/exHdiRESFbA
Black History Month
Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in U.S. history. Also known as African American History Month, the event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month.
The Black History Month 2021 theme, “Black Family: Representation, Identity and Diversity” explores the African diaspora, and the spread of Black families across the United States.
Scripture is the same as last week
Philippians 2:12-18 NLT Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy. Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share your joy.
Text:
Philippians 2:12-13 NLT Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
Introduction
As disciples of Jesus Christ, we need to pay attention to the writings of the apostle Paul. This veteran soldier of the cross, this great missionary leader, this warmhearted pastor was seeking not only to glorify God, but to point out those human responses that were essential for spiritual growth and effectiveness in witnessing.
In the words of our text, Paul was encouraging the disciples at Philippi to cooperate with God as he carried on a good work within them.
Last week in my sermon about grumbling I said that we should respond in joy, excitement, and loyalty, to God's good work in us by cooperating with Him.
Ephesians 3:20-21 NLT Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.
I. As I also said last week God’s good work in us began at our conversion and salvation
Philippians 1:3-6 NLT Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.
Paul told them that the conversion experience is just the beginning of the human response to God, and it is the beginning of God’s great redemptive work on our behalf.
II. God’s good work in us starts at conversion and continues as we cooperate with God (Phil. 2:12–13).
Our text again.
Philippians 2:12-13 NLT Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
As I said last week, Paul was not declaring that the believers in Philippi, or us for that matter, had to work their way to heaven. Salvation is not the result of the good works of even a sincere and devout person.
Titus 3:4-7 NLT But— When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.
What Paul was affirming was that if we want to experience God’s full salvation from the downward pull of a fallen nature, we have to cooperate with God as he works in us.
Let's look at a couple of other translations that can help us to see what Paul was urging us to do.
Here is the way The New International Version of Philippians 2:12-13reads,
Philippians 2:12-13 NIV Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Philippians 2:12-13 GNT (Good News Translation) So then, dear friends, as you always obeyed me when I was with you, it is even more important that you obey me now while I am away from you. Keep on working with fear and trembling to complete your salvation, because God is always at work in you to make you willing and able to obey his own purpose.
Philippians 2:12-13 MSG What I’m getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you’ve done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I’m separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.
In other words, cooperate with God.
A. To work and cooperate with God we must pay close attention to His Word, the Bible. Because God communicate his will to us through the pages of the Bible.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NLT All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
Psalms 119:105 NLT Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.
Hebrews 4:12 NLT For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
2 Peter 1:20-21 NLT Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets they spoke from God.
One of the main ways that God communicates his will to us through the pages of the Bible. So to work with God we must pay close attention to His Word,
B. To work with and cooperate with God we can’t neglect prayer.
God talks to us through His word and the Holy Spirit in us. He helps us understand His word and apply it to our lives. It’s through prayer that we communicate back to God.
Prayer is the way we communicate with God who created us and saved us through Christ because he desires to be in a relationship with us.
We need to remember that our communication with God is based on what God has communicated to us through His word. That's how we can be sure that we are praying in God's will then we can claim the promise in
1 John 5:13-15 NIV I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
So in order for us to work with God It is very important for us to develop a strong prayer life.
C. To work and cooperate with God, we must be responsive to the Holy Spirit.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 NLT Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. Do not stifle the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is seeking day by day not only to strengthen us, but to use us in witnessing to others
Galatians 5:16 NLT So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.
Galatians 5:16 AMP But I say, walk habitually in the [Holy] Spirit [seek Him and be responsive to His guidance], and then you will certainly not carry out the desire of the sinful nature [which responds impulsively without regard for God and His precepts].
Galatians 6:1-2 AMP Brothers, if anyone is caught in any sin, you who are spiritual [that is, you who are responsive to the guidance of the Spirit] are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness [not with a sense of superiority or self-righteousness], keeping a watchful eye on yourself, so that you are not tempted as well. Carry one another’s burdens and in this way you will fulfill the requirements of the law of Christ [that is, the law of Christian love].
Part of that new life of Spirit-filled obedience is witnessing to the world of the saving power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is given to the Church to empower it to witness about Christ.
The Spirit actually testifies about Christ through us to the unsaved world. We join the Spirit’s testimony with our lives: our actions and our words.
Hebrews 10:11-18 NLT Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet. For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy. And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. For he says, “This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord : I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he says, “I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.” And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.
D. To work and cooperate with God we must work within the Body of Christ, the Church.
It is through the expression of God’s family that we experience his presence and his love. It is through the church that we receive encouragement and correction and comfort.
1 Corinthians 14:12 NLT And the same is true for you. Since you are so eager to have the special abilities the Spirit gives, seek those that will strengthen the whole church.
Galatians 6:2-3, 9-10 NLT Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.
1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 NLT For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us. Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever. So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.
Hebrews 10:24-25 NLT Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
III. God’s good work in us will be completed when the Lord returns (Phil. 3:20–21).
God’s good work in us begins in salvation and conversion and continues through consecration, or sanctification. It will finally be consummated when Christ returns from heaven for his own. In conversion we are saved from the penalty of sin. As we cooperate with Christ, and are being sanctified, we are saved from the power and practice of sin. When the Lord returns, we will be saved from the very presence of sin.
Philippians 3:20-21 NLT But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.
Conclusion
Our citizenship is in heaven. As disciples of Jesus, we are pilgrims here. This world is not our home; we are only passing through. As citizens of the kingdom of heaven, we must live out that heavenly citizenship in an environment, in this world, that is not conducive to spiritual growth. It is in this present world that we must let our manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ
Philippians 1:27 NLT Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News.
Let all of us resolve to cooperate with God to perform the good works He has prepared for us.
Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
This is a personal challenge to each of us.
Sermon Audio
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