Philippians - Serve and Surrender, Part 2

Are you rejoicing in your privileges of service today or are you complaining because you have a job to do for the Lord? Oh, sometimes we have to confess that the burdens get heavy. Sometimes there's criticism, opposition, difficulty. We're going to throw up our hands and quit.

Well, in Philippians 2, Paul says if you want to have joy in your ministry, let Jesus Christ be the model for your ministry. In Philippians 1, Paul told us that Jesus Christ is the message of our ministry. We don't preach ourselves, we don't preach our church, our denomination, we preach Christ. And on Philippians 2, Jesus Christ is the model for our ministry.

And Paul has laid down three conditions that we must meet if Jesus Christ truly is to be the model for our ministry. If I am really following his example, I will meet these conditions. Philippians 2:1-11, I must submit to the person above me. Jesus Christ came as a servant. He said, 'I've not come to do my own will, but the will of my Father in heaven.' I must submit to the person above me.

And we asked ourselves four questions in taking a spiritual inventory: Do I think first of others? Am I a servant? Do I sacrifice? And is God glorified? Now, in Philippians 2:12-16, the second condition is, we must submit to the power within us. You know, by nature, you and I don't want to be servants. We're born into this world screaming and grasping and we want everybody to serve us. And for those first few years, people do serve us. And then we have to learn that we have to serve others.

And so by nature we don't want to serve. By nature we don't want to sacrifice. We are grasping and sometimes covetous. How in the world can we ever follow the example of the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, Philippians 2:12-16, we must surrender to the power within us. Then Philippians 2:17-30, we must serve the people around us. And here we have three examples of that service: Paul, and Timothy, and Epaphroditus. Now we focus on Philippians 2:12-16. Let me read these very rich verses.

Wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings, without complaining, that you may be blameless and harmless, children of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 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.

Now there's some fundamental principles here that we need to follow. We need to learn how the power of God works in our lives. Notice that first word in verse 12, 'wherefore.' You see, Paul laid down a doctrinal truth. Jesus Christ came to be our Savior. He is the example of a servant. He humbled himself, he died on the cross, he was raised from the dead, God exalted him, and one day every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Wherefore. Wherefore because God is to be glorified. That's the future now. Wherefore? Because Jesus Christ did what he did on the cross. That's the past. You and I today should live a certain way.

You see, you and I are living today between two very marvelous events: the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the coming again of the Lord Jesus Christ in glory. Now, we should govern our lives in the light of these two events. I fear that many Christians live as though Jesus never died and as though He's never coming again.

Paul tells us in verse 12 that God works in us. And as we work out, He works in. And as He works in, we work out. Now, He's not talking about salvation by works, we all know that. He did not say work for your own salvation. This word 'work out' means to bring to a conclusion, like working out a geometry problem or working out a mechanical problem on your car. It means to bring it to a glorious conclusion.

Now much more in my absence, bring to fruition, bring to completion your own salvation. By the way, that word 'your' is plural. He's talking about the entire church. He's talking about the whole assembly in Philippi. 'Work out your own salvation' means, those of you there in that Philippian church, you work together with God, working out the ministry He wants you to have. You are in Philippi. You're not in Colossae, you're not in Rome, you're not in Jerusalem, you're in Philippi. Now work out the ministry God has for you.

Now, the principles are always the same, the word of God is always the same. But people are different, and churches are different, and locations are different. And I've seen men go to churches and just try to duplicate what they did in a previous church. Doesn't work that way. Each church must work out its own salvation. Now, this is done when each Christian works out his own salvation. We must allow God to work in us, otherwise we cannot work out.

You see, we do not manufacture our ministry. If I thought that I had to manufacture my ministry, I would quit. Nothing is more debilitating, nothing is more eroding to the personality, nothing tears the spirit down more than trying to serve the Lord in your own strength. It doesn't work. The joy of the Lord is our strength. And we have this joy if Jesus Christ is the model for our ministry. How did Jesus minister as a servant? Through the power of God. The spirit of God filled Him beyond measure.

Now, this is what He's telling us in verse 13. For it is God who worketh in you. First, He works in your will to make you willing. Then He works in your body to be able to do of His good pleasure. We don't just simply do the work of God or the will of God, we seek to please God. Now how does God work in us? What tools does God use? Well, of course, fundamentally He works through the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, 'Now, without me you can do nothing.' I'm the vine, you're the branches. Now, if you abide in me, then the life is going to flow through you, and you're going to bear fruit.

Oh, my friends, don't try to serve the Lord in your own power. We don't depend upon our training, we don't depend upon our talents, our abilities, our experience, our expertise. We must depend upon the power of God. Now the Holy Spirit works in us and through us, and He uses three very wonderful tools to accomplish this. You better notice this now. How does God work in us? First of all, through His word.

I'm reading 1 Thessalonians 2:13. I want you to mark it now. 'For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when ye received the word of God, which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.' When you receive the word of God and believe the word of God, the Holy Spirit of God works in you. That's what Jesus meant when He said, 'If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you.' The first tool the Holy Spirit uses is the word of God.

The second tool is prayer. Ephesians 3:20-21. 'Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.' Above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us. Paul had just finished praying a very wonderful prayer there in Ephesians 3, praying that we might understand God's purposes and have God's power down inside and comprehend how big God's love is.

Now what's He saying in Ephesians 3:20-21? That when we pray, the Holy Spirit of God releases power. I can't explain prayer. All I know is that it works. When the Holy Spirit of God works in our lives, it's because we are in the word of God, and the word of God is in us. It's because we are in prayer, submitted to the Lord.

Now the third tool that the Holy Spirit uses to work in and through us is suffering. 1 Peter 5:10. 'But the God of all grace, who has called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you.' God works in our lives through suffering. Now I don't like to suffer. But I know that when I do suffer, the Holy Spirit of God works in my life and He is able to accomplish things.

Peter said this in 1 Peter 4:12. 'Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you, but rejoice inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings. If you be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye, for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you.' The Holy Spirit works through our sufferings. And so we must allow God to work in us through the word of God, through prayer, and through suffering.

Now how can we tell when God is at work in our lives? You know, we we like to go by our feelings, we like to go by results. You know, sometimes God's at work in our lives and we don't feel so good. Sometimes God's at work in our lives, we don't see any fruit. Ultimately there will be and in due season we shall reap if we faint not. But in Philippians 2:14-16, the Apostle Paul says, 'Here are the evidences that God is at work in your life.'

Number one, we're not complaining. 'Do all things without murmurings and disputings,' without murmurings and complaining. We're not complaining. A servant has no right to complain. God has privileged us to be His servants. What have we got to complain about? We know we're going to heaven, we're not going to hell. We know that we're saved. We have the power of God at work in our lives. We have the word of God, the Spirit of God, all the promises of God. Even if we suffer, it's working for us and not against us. The past is not going to affect us because our past is forgiven. The present, we have the presence of God in our lives. The future, we have the blessed hope of our Lord's return. What do we have to complain about? I don't know but we sure complain. When we are truly allowing God to work in our lives, when we're surrendered to the power within us, we're not going to complain. Do all things without murmurings and disputings, complaining.

When we are truly allowing God to work in our lives, when we're surrendered to the power within us, we're not going to complain. Do all things without murmurings and disputings.

Philippians 2:15. We're not going to compromise. He says in Philippians 2:15, 'That you may be blameless and harmless, the children of God without rebuke.' Nobody can scold you, nobody can blame you. Children of God without blemish, without spot, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. We're not going to compromise. When God's at work in your life, you're not going to be a bad testimony.

In fact, he goes on to say, there's another evidence that God is at work in our lives: we are witnessing to others. 'Among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life.' That's a beautiful picture. Now it's an ugly picture of our present world. The present world is crooked. The present world is is perverse. It's it's twisted from the truth. This present world is dark, it needs the light. This present world is dead, it needs the word of life. Look at this now. We live in a distorted world. We live in a dark world, a dead world. And the church is to be in the world a testimony for the Lord Jesus Christ.

The tragedy is, I fear that many of our churches are not lights but mirrors. They are just reflecting the world instead of radiating light into the world. They have become so much like society around them that they can't change anything. G. Campbell Morgan has said that the church did the most for the world when the church was the least like the world. Oh, I know I've heard all the arguments, you know, we should we should imitate the world's music, we should imitate the world's fashions. And yet Paul wrote to the Romans and said, 'Be not conformed to this world.' Now we should not be odd, but we should be different. When you're odd, you repel people. They think you're sort of strange. But when you're different, you attract people. They say, 'There's something about you that is different. What is it?' Well, it's the Lord Jesus Christ. He has made us the way we are.

And so when you are allowing God to work in your life, number one, you won't complain. Oh, I have to confess every once in a while I get to complaining, and I shouldn't. And God forgives me. And you don't compromise. You stand there true to the Lord, and you are a testimony to this world, and more than that, you're bringing joy to others. 'Holding forth the word of life that I may rejoice,' said Paul. In fact, he wrote back at the beginning of Philippians 2, 'Fulfill ye my joy.' Let me ask you a very blunt question: Are you a joy to other people? Are they glad to see you show up? Is God at work in your life so that you are a part of the answer instead of a part of the problem?

Finally, when God's at work in your life, you look forward to seeing Jesus Christ. 'That I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain.' Here's the Apostle Paul who founded this church, and he's saying to these people, 'Look, don't let the devil get into your church. Don't let the flesh get into your church.' Oh, I don't want to look back and say, 'I I wasted all that I put into that church.' My church member friend, are you a joy to your pastor? Is he one day before the Lord Jesus Christ going to be able to give thanks for you? At the judgment seat of Christ, when your pastor has to give an account of his ministry, are you going to be a part of the joy or a part of the sorrow?

Are you a complainer? Are are you causing division in your church? Are you shining as a light out there in the world? Can can people see you? 'Let your light so shine before men,' said the Lord Jesus. Are you a light bearer for the Lord Jesus Christ? We're living in a twisted, crooked, perverse, dark, dead world. And oh, how desperately we need to let God work in us, that He might be able to work through us. My friend, work out your own salvation. God has a specific plan for your life, for your church. And if you'll surrender to Him, if you'll surrender to the power of the Spirit within you, then God will work in and through you and you will have tremendous joy in all of your ministry.

We must submit to the person above us, Philippians 2:1-11, and we must surrender to the power within us, Philippians 2:12-16. Now in Philippians 2:17-30, Paul makes this very practical and gives us a third principle. We must serve the people around us. Those that we can touch, those that we can see, we must serve the people around us. And in Philippians 2:17-30, Paul gives us three examples of service. Now, he's already given the Lord Jesus Christ as the supreme example. But in Philippians 2:17-18, he talks about himself. Paul as an example of service. Then in Philippians 2:19-24, he talks about Timothy, his young associate. And then Philippians 2:25-30, Epaphroditus, the one who had been sent from the Philippian church to bring the offering to Paul.

If we're going to have joy in our ministry, we must serve the people around us. Jesus said, 'I am among you as him who serves.' There is joy in serving others as we serve the Lord Jesus Christ. This is one of the marks of maturity, I think, in the Christian life. The little child thinks of life in terms of getting. And an adolescent thinks of life in terms of doing. But an adult thinks of life in terms of sharing. What can I do for others? Not what are others going to do for me? And we find joy in sharing with others. Let's look today at two of these examples. The Apostle Paul, Philippians 2:17-18, and then young Timothy in Philippians 2:19-24.

Philippians 2:17 now. Paul speaks and says, 'Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all. For the same cause also do you joy and rejoice with me.' This is a remarkable statement he's making here. Here are two verses talking about sacrifice and service, and yet four times he uses the word 'joy' in one way or another. 'I joy and rejoice. You joy and rejoice.' Now, most of us have the idea that when there's a sacrifice to be made, we don't rejoice. We scowl, we complain, 'Do I have to go there? Do I have to do that?' Service. We rejoice when others serve us. Some of us don't like to stand too long at the counter in a store. We say, 'Where in the world is that salesperson? Why aren't they paying attention to me?' We don't like to stand in line somewhere. We like to be served. And when others serve us, we rejoice.

Here's the Apostle Paul saying, 'I am going to offer myself upon the altar. I'm going to be a sacrifice to serve you. It's because of your faith. I want your faith to grow. I want your faith to be all that it ought to be. And I'm going to joy and rejoice for the privilege of being a living sacrifice for you.' The picture here is that of a drink offering. Literally Paul writes, 'Yea, and if I be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith.' You find the drink offering back in Numbers 15. When the Old Testament Jew offered a burnt offering, he could also bring a small container of wine and pour that out along with the burnt offering as a sacrifice to the Lord. It's sort of a picture of pouring out your life in honor and glory to the Lord.

Now the burnt offering is a picture of complete sacrifice to God. It's Romans 12:1. 'Present your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.' Now Paul had started the church in Philippi, and the ministry of the Philippians had been a blessing to him, and now he was going to pour himself out along with that to be a blessing to them. You see, Paul was in danger of death. It's possible that Paul would lose his life on their account. But he wasn't complaining. He was simply saying, 'I will rejoice if I have the privilege of just pouring out my life, putting myself on the altar, that I might encourage you and strengthen the work of the Lord.'

You know, real ministry costs something. The Apostle Paul says, 'If you're going to have joy in your ministry, you simply must serve the people around you, and this means sacrifice.' It really does. Don't complain, my brother, because you have the privilege of sacrificing for others. You're sharing in the fellowship of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't complain, my sister, because you're pouring out your life, and people may not appreciate you. You may not get very many letters of congratulation or words of appreciation. That's all right. You're doing it for Jesus' sake. You're doing it for the Lord Jesus Christ. He knows all about it. Just serve others. There is joy in serving Jesus when you pour yourself out in sacrifice and service for the Lord. After all, Jesus did that for us, didn't He? He came down here as a servant and then He sacrificed Himself on the cross. Sacrifice and service, that's what brings joy in ministry.