[Generated Transcript]

As we come here to Philippians 2, we’ll be starting in verse 12 and go through verse 18. We are into the section where he’s trying to teach them specific things. He taught them last week about how to get unity through humility. And this week, he’s going to build off of that. You’ll see right there at the beginning of verse 12.

It starts with, therefore, saying, look at what came before, and I’m going to be building off of that to say what I now need to say to you. And what specifically he’s going to draw from is the example that he saw in Christ, or that he gave in Christ.

So we use Christ as an example of humility, that he gave up so much that he would draw near to his people, that he would become like them, that he would suffer with them and then for them, that he could be with them. striving for unity, but at the end he also talks about that humility driving him and leading him in obedience to God. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. And so that’s where he’s going to take off with that idea. Just as Christ’s humility led him to obedience, what does that look like for the Philippian church? What does that look like for us?

A quick preview to help you read through it. There’s one instruction in each section. So there’s three of them. If you look at verse 12, at the end, Paul says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. And then he gives reasons for it. And then in verse 4, he gives another instruction, another teaching. Do all things without grumbling or disputing. And he’s going to go on to explain that. And then at the end, in verse 17, he gives his last instruction.

I’m glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me. All three of those instructions are trying to teach what is obedience in Christ. So now let me read God’s word. This is God’s word that he wrote for us. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now not only is in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 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 also should be glad and rejoice with me.”

This ends our reading. As we come to this section, there’s so many good lines that I’m sure you have a bunch of these lines memorized, but a lot of it can kind of mix together. So there’s going to be actually a little bit of preliminary stuff at the beginning. How do we fit all of this together? Because we remember phrases, and they’re so powerful, and they ring so true, but they’re all jam-packed that we forget what the connections are.

So if you’d bear with me at the beginning, there’s going to be a bit of an intro in a few areas that are going to help us sort out what is Paul saying, and where is he coming from, and what is he trying to say to the church. OK? To start off, If you remember the context, you can hear it in what Paul is writing about.

What’s present in his mind is knowing he’s writing from a distance. He has great love for this church, but that he’s not with them. And he’s not sure when he’s going to be with them again, but he knows it’s not going to be a long-term pastoral relationship. So he’s writing to them, but he knows, well, I’m actually writing knowing, I’m giving you instructions, hoping that while I’m not there, you’re still going to grow in Christ. not only is in my presence but much more in my absence.” There’s one other concern that he has and it’s all of the pressures from the outside. You catch a little glimpse of that as he encourages them to be children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. So he has these concerns about what are the pressures going on in this church, and then his own personal concerns that he would love to be with them, but wants them to draw near to Christ, whether he’s there or whether he’s not there.

One other important thing to see is he’s actually writing in a biblical framework here. Now that sounds kind of dumb for me to say that this is strange, but he’s imagining a certain scene in the Old Testament, and that’s where his writing is coming out of. This isn’t actually uncommon for Paul. He does this in other places where he’ll start writing about something, and you’ll think his language is getting a little bit strange, but it’s because he’s writing mimicking Genesis, like in 1 Timothy 2.

Well, here what he’s doing is he’s actually quoting the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32. Let me show that to you. If you go to Deuteronomy 32, but keep your finger in Philippians because we’ll come back to that briefly. Deuteronomy 32, Moses is writing instructions at the end of his life, the end of his ministry with them, and he has great concern for them because he’s about to leave. And then he writes this song to teach them and instruct them on the way that they should go.

At the beginning, he writes this section. I’m going to read it to you and then explain what’s going on, because it’s hard to read the whole context. Verse four. The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice, a God of faithfulness and without iniquity. Just and upright is he.

They have dealt corruptly with him. They are no longer his children, because they are blemished. They are a crooked and twisted generation. Now, did you hear the quotation there that Paul had? A lot of similar language. What verse 5 is talking about in Moses’ song is actually God as he created the whole world. It’s looking at everyone who he created and he says, they are no longer his children because they are blemished.

They are a crooked and twisted generation. And we know that because It begins in verse 7. It says, remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. That’s speaking about Genesis 5. So he’s walking through the story of Genesis. And it says, ask your father, he will show you. Ask your elders and they will tell you when the Most High gave up the nations, their inheritance, when he divided mankind. That’s Babel. He fixed the borders of the people according to the number of the sons of God.

Genesis 10 going on. So he’s describing this period, but all of this is before Abraham was called. So this is actually a really strange section in the Old Testament, because he actually refers to the pagan nations who reject God, who weren’t part of Israel.

And he says, well, they are no longer my children, as if, but they were once, and they’ve walked away. And then he ends verse 9 saying, but the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob, his allotted heritage, the call of Abraham in Genesis 12. Okay? So that’s the context that Paul is looking at this story, but specifically where the verse that he quotes from is coming from.

That it’s God looking at the nations and describing how they’ve departed from God, they’ve walked off, and they’ve become twisted. They’ve become a crooked and twisted generation. They’re blemished. They’ve walked away from God. And then that will serve for Moses in his song as a warning to Israel. You have had all these blessings. You’ve seen God in Sinai. And then you’ve already begun to walk away from him. You’ve already worshipped the calf. You’ve already grumbled. You’ve already bickered throughout the wilderness. And you’re on the same path as them.

Now, turning back to Philippians 2, but you can keep your finger in, well, maybe just keep something in Deuteronomy 32, because we’ll return back to it. But let me read that section again that he quotes from. Verse 14, do all things without grumbling that you may be blameless and innocent. Children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation.

Do you hear the same language? We’ll get to that. He changes things. He changes quite a bit in how he applies it to the church. But it’s a quotation of Deuteronomy 32. And then we’re going to see themes of that show up throughout this section of Philippians as well. To give an example, as Moses is writing this at the end of chapter 31, he says, you don’t need to turn if you don’t want to. I’ll just read it.

He says, for I know that after my death you will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way that I commanded you. And in the days to come, evil will befall you because you will do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger through the work of your hands. Moses is saying, while I’ve been with you, you’ve already begun to depart. But even when I’m gone, you’re gonna just continue doing that.

Did you hear that concern in how Paul describes it as well? He says, sorry, I lost the page for a second. He says, so now not only is in my presence, but much more in my absence. Paul has the same concern. Well, I’ve been with you, and now in my absence, are you going to continue on the way? So Paul is seeing similar concerns going on with Moses, but he’s going to play it out very differently.

So I just wanted to frame that now of how do we see this section, and why I’ll keep referencing back to Moses in the wilderness. But Paul is seeing a situation very differently, which I’ll come back to at the end. Last thing I want to point out is maybe two problems in how we read this in verse 12. Let me read that section one more time.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now not only is in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. So we talked about what is the context Paul’s writing in, where is Paul getting his advice from in Deuteronomy. But I want to also talk about two words which we think of as quite small, but Paul is using in a broad sense here. He says, his instruction is, as you have always obeyed, is how he introduces it. As you have always obeyed.

When we think of obedience, what we think of is doing what someone tells you to do, right? Why won’t you obey me? Well, I gave you something to do and you’re not listening to me. That’s what we’ll tell a child, right? But you also know that obedience is deeper than that. And that’s what Paul means. Because as you’ll go on to see, he’s not giving you specific commands. Or he’s not pointing you to specific commands of Christ. He has a broad idea of obedience. It’s about the character and approach towards God. The second piece, how you see that, is where he goes on to say, when he gives what he’s talking about, as you have always obeyed, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Now, how do we understand what that means? The word there is talking about accomplishing something or bring it to its end. Well, how do we accomplish our salvation? Now, we know from where it goes that God is the one working in us. Verse 13, it’s God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. But I think the issue is we think of salvation here as the moment of being saved. What’s bringing us into Christ? Now, Paul is speaking in a more broad sense of salvation.

He’s looking at the Israelites in the Old Testament and seeing, well, yes, they were saved at Sinai. God appeared to them. There was a sacrifice, redemption. They were received by God. But actually, their salvation was their whole journey into the promised land. So, how were they then supposed to, having been saved in Christ, they’re supposed to walk faithfully through the wilderness until God brought them into the promised land.

And God was doing all of that, but Paul is using salvation in that holistic sense. So, how do we place that in our own lives? Well, what is your salvation? The way that Paul is using salvation here means your whole life, the whole life God is bringing you through until you make it to his presence. That’s your salvation.

Now he says that that’s all secured in God. But just to understand what is that meaning. It’s not meaning, well you have to work and work and work to achieve to be into Christ. That’s not what he’s saying. But he’s saying, press forward in Christ so that you accomplish your salvation. That you reach the heavenly gates.

Okay? So obedience is much bigger than we think about it. And salvation, he’s using it in a bigger way than we often think about it. Otherwise, if we don’t understand that, we’re going to miss what he’s saying here and go off into all sorts of routes. Okay. I’m sorry. That was, like I said, that was a long period of introduction. Hopefully then you’ll be better able to understand where Paul is getting at. The first thing I want to see is verses 12 to 13. As he talks about obedience, what does obedience in Christ look like? What does humble obedience look like?

The first thing is pressing is just that, obedience. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now not only is in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.” What he’s pressing to them is strive for obedience. But the obedience that he’s trying to get them to strive for, as I said, is a holistic obedience. It’s not, well, here are the commands, now what do I have to do?

Imagine, maybe you’re a young person, you’re a child, you’ve not had a job yet, but imagine you owned a business, and it’s a small business, maybe you run a restaurant, and you hire somebody. What sort of employee do you want to hire? Do you want someone who is, maybe they’ve been court ordered that you have to work somewhere, so they’re working at your company?

Or maybe you run a restaurant, but it’s someone who just really loves food. And so he’s just hoping to be around food a lot. Well, if they’re not actually trying to help you, there’s going to be a clash. You can make all the rules that you want. Here are your jobs. You have to cook burgers from this time. Then you have to make fries. And you have to take orders.

And here’s how you run the cash register. And then you watch this guy work. And you’re like, well, he’s texting with his friends all the time. He’s not actually engaged. So then you make a new rule. Well, no using your phone while at work. But then his girlfriend comes and he’s just talking to his girlfriend. Okay, well let’s make another rule. You can’t talk to any of your friends while you’re working. It doesn’t matter how many rules you add to that. He doesn’t want to obey. Maybe he’s the perfect employee in terms of he’ll follow all the rules. But he’s going to find every single loophole to get around it.

Is that obedience? No, that’s not obedience. And that’s what Paul’s getting at here, is the obedience he’s talking about is, are you actually striving to follow the heart of it? Are you striving to actually be a good employee, to build up the business that your owner has? What is obedience here? As you have always obeyed, Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Do you remember when you came to Christ? When you first saw your sins for what they were? Maybe you were prideful, and it was a soft transition, and you thought, oh wow, I am a sinner. And it was just an easy switch. Or maybe you were at the lowest peak of your life, and you thought, no one could ever love me. And you saw, wow, Christ does love me. And he loved me enough to pay for all of my sins. And you went from the depths of your soul to the heights of heaven in a moment. Either way, when you came to Christ, you saw the glory of Christ.

You saw his beauty, and you saw, oh man, I want to run after him. Right? Do you remember that fire? Where it wasn’t just like, OK, what do I have to do? But you started devouring scripture. You started telling people about the gospel. Because you just wanted to share what you had. You had a pursuit of Christ. That’s what that’s referencing when it says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Israel came before Sinai, and they saw the power of God. And they saw, if any of us even come close to this mountain, we’ll be struck dead. But he has saved us from Egypt. And in that moment, they were completely devoted to him. Well, just tell us what to do, and we’ll run after you. Right? And then it quickly changes, about 40 days later, and then they start departing. But for that brief moment, they were completely devoted to God. They obeyed Him. It’s obedience. And for us, we’ve experienced that in your life if you’ve been saved. Oh, it’s not just knowing what the rules are. Okay, I’ll do the rules, but you actually want Christ. What would please Him? That is full obedience.

That’s what it means to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Living your life before Sinai at all times. Living your life at the foot of the cross. Always seeing, wow, here’s the Savior who paid for my sins. Now, quickly we will often walk away from the cross and think of, why is this so hard? Or why do I have to do that? Or how much, how far do I have to go? But the Christian life is supposed to be lived right at the foot of the cross of Christ.

So you’re looking and you’re saying, oh man, I would do anything for him because look at all that he’s done for me. What a joy it is to just get a chance to serve him. It’s like the employee at the restaurant looking at the tasks that he has and then saying, well, I think that this would also help him.

Let me just do a budgeting sheet for my boss. I think that would be nice. Not part of his task list. He just goes home and does that at night. Well, maybe it would help if I found some other employees that were good and you start interviewing people to help you out. That’s the obedience that Paul has in mind.

Where are you striving for Christ? Where have you seen that in your own life? Wow, my life has been transformed and I’ve been pursuing Christ. Full obedience, working out my salvation. It’s been a joy to know I’m going to make it to the end because it’s God who’s working in me and I want to see him work through me. That’s what Paul is the lessons he’s giving them. In full obedience, strive after Christ. That’s what has your eyes.

You’re living your life at the foot of the cross and in complete love with your Savior. And then he goes on to dig a little deeper in verse 14. He says, 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. You can hear the reference if you know the story of the wilderness journey. Do all things without grumbling or disputing.

Maybe you have children like me, and they’re young children, and you’re giving them instructions. And then my son has gotten more and more of a tendency of complaining about things. Or, OK, I’ll do it, but I’m going to stomp my foot. And we tell them, that’s not obedience.

You’re doing what I asked, but you’re just grumbling about it. The problem for Israel in the wilderness started not with disobedience. It started with grumbling. Do you remember that? God gave them something to do, and they just would complain about it. They just started arguing with each other. They fought over leadership.

Well, does that guy have to be in charge, or we want to have our own leader? They didn’t directly disobey first. They first just, in their mind, were departing from God. And they didn’t want to have to follow him. How much different is it when your child, you say something that you know that he doesn’t like. And he says, okay, yeah, I’ll do that for you. And he dives into it. And you thought, wow, I thought that was going to be more of a fight. I thought I was going to have to persuade him about why to do this. But he just dives right into it.

Doesn’t that just warm your heart as a parent? Or maybe you’re a child, and you don’t know what it’s like to have kids, but you have a friend, and you ask him to help you out with something, and he says, yeah, I would love to do that. And you know it’s a burden for him. You know it’s going to take his time, or he’s got to leave the game that he’s playing to help you out. But he doesn’t put any of that on you.

He just says, yeah, I would love to do that. Doesn’t that just warm your heart? Wow, this person doesn’t just do what I ask him to do, but he actually wants to help me out. He wants to do this with me. 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.” Now what’s interesting is that this is the section where he most clearly quotes from Deuteronomy. But when he quotes from Deuteronomy, he actually flips it. Did you hear that as I was reading it before?

They have dealt corruptly with him. They are no longer his children because they are blemished. They are a crooked and twisted generation. So these people who have departed from God, he created them, he was their father, and then they’ve just walked away. Well, they’ve become the crooked and twisted generation. But now Paul flips the script and says, no, you who have come to God in Christ, now you are children of God again. Now, rather than being blemished, you are without blemish. The crooked and twisted generation is all of those out there that you’re living among. Isn’t that wonderful? Isn’t that wonderful to see that the script has flipped?

God has taken those who were his enemies and said, well, now I can write this about you. I’ve taken you out of a crooked and twisted generation, about a people opposed to God, and have made you my children. I’ve made you one with me, without blemish. But there’s a purpose to this, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life.” Again, he uses some strange phrases, but do you see what he’s doing there? God has called you out of a crooked and twisted generation, but then he’s left you there to be a light.

So when he’s talking about do all things without grumbling or disputing, the way that we pursue Christ, are we doing it with joy? Are we doing it where we enjoy our pursuit of Christ? And that when difficulty comes, we aren’t complaining. And what does Paul say is going to happen? That we shine as lights in the world.

What do you think evangelism is normally? Someone says to you, OK, you need to go out and do more evangelism. Well, you’re probably thinking, well, OK, how do I share the gospel? Or what’s the way that I would present this? What are my apologetic arguments?

Paul is saying, you shine as lights in the world by living as a Christian out there without grumbling or disputing. Do you see that? How are you taking the difficulty? How are you taking the struggle of living in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation? Of living out there in the world, but then knowing, well, I’m doing this for God.

And just that attitude, just that change in attitude, Paul says, well, that is shining like a light. The world doesn’t know what to do with that. There’s something nice about that for those of us who maybe aren’t as verbal, or maybe are concerned about getting into an argument, or I don’t know what to say to share the gospel. Paul is saying, well, there’s also this way of just the way that you live your life and being willing to share if someone asks you, because they’re going to see a difference. How are you treating the way that God, the things that God is putting right in front of you, with grace, without grumbling and disputing?

And that itself is enough. How are you living, verse 16 as it says, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I’m to be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. What’s interesting about that phrase is that’s also a quote from Deuteronomy. Let me read from the end. After Moses finishes his song, he then turns to them and he says, take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children and be careful to do all the words of this law.

For it is no empty word for you but your very life. And by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. It is no empty word for you, but your very life. That’s what Paul is referencing when he says, holding fast to the word of life.

The things that God has given you, these commands which he’s given you, pursue Christ. Hold on to my words, study me and know me. Moses said, this will be your life that will bring you into the promised land. The instructions that he gave. And Paul says, the gospel, this is the word of life. And it’s going to take you to the day of Christ. Do you see that? It’s not just a full obedience, but a heartfelt obedience. My heart is engaged in submitting to God in a way that I trust Him. God may do with me whatever He wishes. Paul believes this so much that he is tied into it.

After giving these instructions, he says, I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Paul sees their walk and says, even though I’m not with you, if you do these simple things, you pursue Christ, that makes me proud. And I know that, man, my walk is secure. I can be proud of what I’ve done.

How many people are looking on at you in a similar way? They’ve poured into your life, and maybe they’re no longer with you right now, but they can look and say, wow, he’s still a Christian. She’s still reading God’s word. The things I’ve poured into her, the things I’ve poured into him have not been in vain. Look at all that’s changed in his life or her life. People who’ve discipled you and you no longer have contact with them, but they can be proud that the way they’ve run with you has led to fruit and it’s carrying you through to the end.

That you have a heartfelt obedience. And then Paul adds one more aspect to it. He says, 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 also should be glad and rejoice with me. that there’s a joy to this obedience, that Paul’s resembling just in the way that he speaks. He says, I’ve run faithfully. I’ve been obedient in my pursuit of you and the way I’ve treated you, and I’m gonna find joy in whatever happens with this. He uses this imagery of the Old Testament system. I’m poured out as a drink offering on the sacrificial offering of your faith. There’s this sacrifice that’s killed. It’s offered to God, and it rises up as a beautiful aroma to him. And the drink offering was just taken, and then it was poured out.

You’d think, well, it’s just wasted. There’s nothing that’s kept for the people. It’s just all lost. Think of David when his men go out to the well in Bethlehem. They fight through a whole army. They grab water from him. They bring it back. And he says, this is too valuable for me to have. I need to give it to God. He just pours it all out on the ground. You think, well, that was a waste.

Well, the beauty of that offering is that it was willing to be wasted because of how valuable God is. And so he describes himself as, even if I am poured out as a drink offering, even if everything I’ve poured my life into comes to nothing, and I see no fruit from it, well, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Isn’t that a beautiful thought? He sees his own life as a testament to God’s glory, that I’m willing to just be a drink offering that’s poured out on the ground and produces nothing. I’m glad, and I rejoice for my time with you. I rejoice for what that may do for you.

How many of you have felt that same sort of frivolousness to your life? Well, I don’t think I’m doing anything. I don’t think that this is going to produce anything. What’s the point of all of this? Sort of like the midlife crisis. But we can also, well, I haven’t experienced that, but I’m sure it comes at the end of your life as well, where you look back and you think, I didn’t do what I was hoping with my life.

What do I have to offer to God? This is a wonderful text to go to, even if you’re poured out as a drink offering. And you say, well, there’s nothing to my life. But I was trying to do it in faithfulness to God. And it was a life given for God. What does Paul say you can do? I’m glad and rejoice with you all. And he tells them, you also should be glad and rejoice with me. Even if the end of your work as a church, you disappear, your church is lost, but you strove to try and advance the gospel in Philippi. You go there now, and there’s not a remnant of that church. And there may not be a faithful church in Philippi.

But Paul says, well, either way, they were glad and they rejoiced, because God was doing a great work in them. And even if their church was poured out as a drink offering for God, it was pleasing to God. You see the joy that Paul is trying to get them to see in their life. You don’t need to see if you’ve accomplished anything. You don’t have a bunch of lists of things you have to do to honor God. But live a life that does honor God. Look to him to please him.

And that’s how he twists the whole quotation of Deuteronomy. Because Moses, when he introduced Deuteronomy 32, what he says is, look, I’ve I’ve served you, and you have continually walked away from God. You are a wicked people, and you’re going to continue walking away. And you are going to be brought out of this land, because you’re going to be unfaithful. He tells them that right at the beginning. And he says, this will hold you in, if you follow the words of this psalm. And he quotes a verse where he talks about the crooked and twisted generation, because they’ve walked away from God. And it says, you need to cling to the word of life, but I know you’re not going to do it.

Moses’s whole song is pessimistic. He knows that he’s not able to bring them to the end. Even while he was with them, they sinned against God, and they departed, and they went into idolatry. And there’s just pessimism to that song. It’s not going to work. They’re just going to become unfaithful. But you read this section, as Paul is thinking on that song, and he’s writing the Philippi, none of that is coming through. Do you see that? None of that is coming through. It’s all optimism.

They have been saved and God is going to complete the work in them. God’s the one who’s working in them. They are blameless and innocent. They are children of God without blemish. Does he know of their sins? Of course he knows of their sins. But he calls them children of God without blemish.

He doesn’t hold out the word of life and says, I know you’re not going to cling to this very well. He says, you are holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ, I may be proud. He’s not holding it up and saying, well, maybe I’ll be proud and maybe I won’t. It’s complete optimism.

Why is Paul able to do that? Does he just think, well, maybe Moses was too pessimistic, but I have more hope for my people. No, Moses wrote Scripture, and Moses was right in everything that he wrote. Because they did depart from God, they did walk away. Here’s the difference.

Who is securing them? Moses wasn’t able to secure them. He wasn’t able to secure them in the wilderness on his own. He wasn’t even able to secure himself, because he disobeyed God and walked away. And he knows that they weren’t going to be able to continue in that road. They were going to head off into idolatry.

But Paul writes, and he says, I’m glad and rejoice with you all. He says he’s going to be proud that he did not run in vain or labor in vain. He says that they’re going to hold fast to the word of life. See, everything he writes is optimistic in this section, because he knows that it’s God who’s working in them and through them. that the blood that’s securing them is not the blood of the bull on the sacrifice, but it’s the blood of Christ. And that Christ is the leader walking among them who’s not just saved them, but bringing them all the way to their salvation.

And so he reinterprets Deuteronomy 32 and says, well, in Christ, in the new covenant, the blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel, the blood that speaks a better word than the blood of a goat, In the blood of Christ, this is what it means for you as a church. The last few sermons, I’ve pressed a lot on sins that may be there. What is our heart doing? How are we departing from God? But I hope you’re understanding that this sermon is trying to be a little different. Do you see that Christ has secured a great salvation for you?

That’s what Paul is trying to communicate. There is such abundant hope he has for Philippi. There is such abundant hope Christ has for you as a church, because it’s not depending on you. Look what God has already done in your life and for you, and know that God is going to continue that. He’s going to continue that work, because His blood is staked on it.

That’s what our hope is resting on. That’s how we can do all things without grumbling and disputing, even in great wickedness. That’s how we can have great optimism about where is God going to bring us. Because we know the God who has brought us to where we are, and we know what his death has secured for us. His death has secured our salvation. It secured not just our salvation from sin, but our whole walk in this life, the holistic salvation that Paul was talking about.

That is the great God who we come to worship and who has called us to himself. Isn’t that wonderful? Let’s pray to that God. Lord, we come to you and praise you for all that you have done for us. Though we are weak sinners, you say we are children of God without blemish. Though we see ourselves as stumbling and about to trip over ourselves, fail at any moment, you look at your people and say, no, you are completely secure in the arms of Christ. That is a truth far bigger than we can express or understand.

But I pray that you would give us the fruit of that truth. For those who are doubting and weak, that you would give us assurance. For those who are sad and mourning, would you give us hope in Christ? For those who are worn down, would you give us strength in Christ?

For those of us who are caught up in the rat race of trying to figure out, how much more can I do? How much more can I try? that we would be able to rest in a heartfelt obedience to Christ. Lord, there’s so much that is around us in this crooked and twisted generation, but we know that we can withstand and shine as lights if we’re holding fast to Christ, who is the word of life. I pray that this would be true and that you would prove your word to be true in Christ by your spirit. Amen.