Everyday Church
Your Light
(upbeat music) - Hello, friend. Welcome to today's podcast, Everyday Church, with Pastor Jason Kiefer. Everyday Church is a daily podcast where believers learn together, grow together, and serve together. - Hey, my friend. It's great to be with you today on the Everyday Church podcast, and I hope you're having a great day in the Lord. Here we are at the start of a new week, and, of course, last week was Thanksgiving week, and I hope you were able to spend time with friends and family, and just take some time and think about the things that we had to be thankful for. Amen, but it's good to be back together. I do want to invite you to check out at asktowabaptist.com. You can go there and find out different ways that you can serve, get connected with other believers, grow, and really, that we can work together is the hope, serving Christ, and just growing in the gospel with one another. Amen, and so, but today, we're gonna pick up in Philippians, chapter two, just moving right along. Last time we were together, last couple of times we were together, we talked a little bit about the, the passage in Philippians that deals with the emptying out of Christ, where he, although he was God, he thought it not Robert to be equal with God, the Bible says, yet he took on himself the form of a servant, and Paul was calling us to take on in our minds and our hearts that form of a servant, being like Christ. And so, as we get down a little farther in this chapter, we get down to verse 12, and Paul says this, he says, "Wherefore my love, as you have always obeyed, "not as in my own presence only, "but now much more in my absence." So, he says, "Look, when I was with you, you obey, "but even more so when I'm absent is that you would obey." And then he makes this statement, he says, "Work out your own salvation "with fear and trembling." And so, it's natural for people to follow a leader and Paul was that leader for many of these believers, and Paul is telling them, "Look, you can't always be "kind of attached to the works of other people, "but at some point, your obedience becomes "a personal thing with you and Christ." And so, just as you're obeying God in my presence, so much more when I'm not around, many times people will obey the Lord based on who they're around. And Paul says, "Not just when I'm around, "but even in my absence, that you would follow Christ "and be obedient." And I think it helps us to understand the reality of, you know, why are we obeying Christ? Why are we doing the things that we do? It should be out of obedience to Christ, not the men, not the people, but really out of obedience to the Lord. And so, Paul says, he says, "Work out your own salvation. "You work your own salvation out." Now, this isn't talking about works for salvation in order to be saved. Everybody's way of being saved is all, it's all the same. You come to God through the Lord Jesus Christ, through faith and believing on the work of Christ. There is salvation in none other. There's only one name under heaven by which men can be saved. And he's already talked about that, right? And he said that every tongue should confess and every knee should bow that Jesus Christ is Lord. But it's talking about your testimony here, working out your own salvation. It's the works of salvation in you and through you that produce good works. It's interesting what he says in verse 13. I think these are really highly connected. He says, "Work out your own salvation with fear "and trembling." So, notice the mindset of working out your salvation done in fear and trembling in reverence and in awe of what God has done and what he's doing in just. And I think sometimes we really if we're not careful can kind of take on this kind of nonchalant attitude or just kind of a very casual approach to God. And I really think Paul here is getting us to understand that our works in salvation is a serious matter. We will stand at the judgment seat of Christ. But then look what he says in verse 13. For it is God which worketh in you both the will and to do his good pleasure. I think that's an interesting verse. I think of the verse back in Romans chapter seven, Romans chapter seven where Paul is speaking. He's speaking of the battle between the flesh and the spirit. And he makes a statement in there. And in that chapter, I'm trying to find the verse. He said, "Wherefore the law is holy and the commandment holy and just in good." He goes on, I'm trying to find it here, sorry. But he basically goes on saying this that I know in verse 18, "For I know that in me that isn't my flesh, well, it's no good thing. For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not." Paul in Romans makes a statement and he says, "Look, I know what the will of God is, but how to do that I can't." But then notice the contrast in the statement he makes in Philippians chapter two 'cause he says, "It's God that works in you and to do his good pleasure." He works in you to know his will and to do his good pleasure. That so Paul is writing Philippians sometime later after Romans, you have to wonder based on those two statements if Paul had grown in his walk with the Lord. And I think sometimes people use Romans chapter seven if we're not careful as a reason to not do the right thing or an excuse to not do the right thing. It's kind of like the excuse of, "Well, I really struggle with that." And sometimes you gotta wonder how much people really struggle with that are we just giving in to sin. Oh, Paul in Romans was saying, "Look, I know the right thing to do, but man, I just, I can't. Every time I go to do it, evil is always present. I find myself failing and falling short. And I really do think that's the life of the believer, but I think we grow in maturity, excuse me. I think we grow in maturity. And I think the maturity is there comes this point where we say it's God that worketh in you both the will and to do his good pleasure. It's God that works in me to show me his will and it's God that works in me to do his good will. And so I think that helps us to understand that the God is willing to come alongside of us and perform within us what he wants and what he requires of us. And I think it goes back to the first part of this chapter. It just takes that mindset of yielding to him, that mindset of resting in him, that mindset of me saying, "You what? It's not my will, but God's will be done." And we take that approach of humility so that God's will can be worked out in our life. He says, "It is God which worketh in you both the will and to do of his good pleasure." And then he makes this statement in verse 14, "Do all things without murmuring and disputing." Man, that statement right there should give us some insight to the reality of how things are. Man, life is just tough sometimes, right? Life is just tough. And you know, it's not fair. It's not fair. You know, you can put out and put out and put out and sometimes it's just like for what's the purpose. You know, people sometimes you get discouraged in ministry, you get discouraged in life sometimes. And our response to that is usually to murmur. And murmuring is really talking about something that you can't do anything about. It's talking, it's just rehearsing things. Sometimes in your own mind, sometimes with your spouse, sometimes with your kids or somebody close to you. It's just talking and complaining about something that you know you can't change and you can't do anything about it. And so the Bible says don't do this. It says do all things. In fact, he says do all things without murmurings and without disputing. Do everything without murmuring. You may have a reason to murmur, but the instruction is to do it without murmuring. You may have reasons to dispute, but do it without that. Well, then he says this, that you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perdiverse generation among whom you shine as light in the world. He goes back to our testimony. He goes back to our testimony. He says so that you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke. So me doing things without murmuring and disputing doesn't make me the son of God, but it testifies that I'm the son of God. It testifies that I've found a peace within me that I'm content, that I'm satisfied. And no matter what the circumstances are, I don't have to murmur, I don't have to complain. It's a good, it's a blameless, it's a faultless testimony in front of people, before people. So he's not saying that if I do things without murmings and disputing, then I'm blameless. It's talking about our testimony and what people see of us. And so, because then he goes on to say, he said that the sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, whom he shine as light in the world. I think that's important for us to remember that we're the light of the world. Jesus said, you're the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light their candles and put it under a bush, but they put on a candlestick that it may get the light up to all of them are in the house. And I wonder today, who is your life lighting, right? Who are you lighting? Who is your life having an influence on? Who is your life being able to affect? Who is your life being able to really make a difference, and just be able to reach into the parts of people's lives that you don't ever see? Who were you able to have that effect on? And I just think that that's so, so extremely important. And so, the key, the key is that we live out our salvation with fear and trembling. The key is that we learn to submit to his will and allow him to do his work through us. In doing this, it's going to dictate more or less what our attitude is about things. If I'm just submitted to his will, I'm going to be able to do it without merming and complaining. I may be doing the right thing, but am I really submitted to him? And I think that's the key. And when I am, I think people see this blameless, harmless, testimony, it testifies that I'm a child of God. It testifies that I'm different in a crooked and perverse nation. It testifies that I am the light of the world. And then he says this in verse 16, holding forth the word of life that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. Man, what a great, great thought there. When we do these things, we're holding forth the word in front of that and holding up the word of God. That is our focus, that is our aim, that is our foundation. That is going to be our judge one day. That's going to be what judges us one day. And we do this, we know that we're going to be able to stand before Christ with a clear conscience. We're going to be able to stand before Christ rejoicing. He said that you may be able to rejoice in the day of Christ, knowing that you have not run, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. And we can look ahead to the things we haven't done and go ahead and predetermined what the outcome is going to be in a sense. I can't, I don't know the specifics here in this life, but I can look ahead and say, hey, you know what? I'm going to go in and be submitted. I'm going to serve with joy in my heart. I'm going to be a good testimony and a good witness. I'm going to do the will of God because he's going to work that through me. I'm going to submit to his work. And because I'm going to do that, I commit to that. I know that one day I'll stand before Christ and I'll be able to rejoice. What a thought there. And I think sometimes we forget that one day we'll stand before God. And I think as believers, if we can remember that, it'll help us with fear and trembling to work out our salvation as the Lord moves in our life. What a great, great passage. What a great verse. I'm praying for you today. I hope the Lord just would bless you and cause his face to shine upon you. He's so gracious to us and so good. And I pray as you start off this week, maybe you're discouraged today and just really, you know, really struggling. Maybe you're dealing with some circumstances that are hard and very heavy. I would just pray for you today that God's grace would be sufficient for you and be a light in the dark world, be compassionate and show the love of Jesus. Let's go to the Lord in prayer and as we leave today. Father, thank you for your mercy. Thank you for your goodness, for your love for us. Father, you're good to us, you're faithful, your compassion as they fail not. Great is life faithful, this old God. Lord, we love you. God, I just thank you. Ask that you'll be with us throughout the day. In your name we pray. Amen. (upbeat music) Thank you for listening to Every Day Church, a daily podcast where believers learn together, grow together, and serve together. If this episode was an encouragement to you, be sure to hit like, share it, and subscribe for future content. (upbeat music)
Everyday Church is a daily podcast where we learn together, grow together, and serve together.