Gtcotr/ws061621
Although we do not get saved by works, it is works that saves us.
Someone worked so you could get saved!
God gave the Apostle Paul the primary responsibility of evangelizing Gentiles and teaching them how to live a life pleasing to Christ. Although Paul was fortunate to visit most of the cities we find in the New Testament, he was able only to spend a brief period of time in any one location. His job was to plant as many seeds of the Gospel in as many places as possible and then to water those seeds and cultivate each new congregation by sending other teachers and writing letters of instruction to them.
Each letter Paul sent was directly inspired and anointed by the Holy Spirit as the Word of God and contained instruction, correction, encouragement, and/or information necessary to live a godly life. The New Testament is the anointed Word of God which has been preserved for us. Heaven and earth will pass away but the Word of God will stand forever.
When Paul was directed by God to take the Gospel to the Gentiles living in Europe, God sent him first to the city of Philippi. You can read this account in Acts 16. Last week our tour group were blessed to witness the baptism of 3 of the members of our congregation in the Aegean Sea, at the old seaport of Troas, right where the Apostle Paul and his companions left Asia on their first trip to Europe. It was just a short boat ride across to Macedonia, which is better known as Greece today.
A few years later, perhaps AD62 from prison in Rome, Paul was led to write a letter back to the Church of the Philippians. Timothy, and a few other companions in the Gospel, were visitors who were allowed to stay with Apostle Paul while he was under house arrest in Rome. Paul was being held under guard while his appeal was being considered by Nero.
It seems to have worked out well and Paul was able to receive visitors in his own house and hear reports and write letters to several churches during that time. We can easily see how God orchestrates our lives according to His divine plan and purpose. Paul may never have had the time to write all of the letters we have today if he had not have been in prison. The Bible says that a man may ponder his path, but the Lord directs his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)
This past Sunday we found that virtually every Epistle penned by the Apostle Paul, as well as by the Apostle Peter, and even the Book of Revelation, which was penned by the Apostle John, includes the very same phrase. Do you remember what that phrase was? We will read it again in the second verse of Philippians chapter 1.
Philippians 1 NKJV
1 ¶ Paul and Timothy,
bondservants of Jesus Christ, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in
Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Based on the Acts 16 account of what happened in Philippi and how the Philippian Church was started, I believe the Church was full of the families of men who were in jail along with a high concentration of prison guards and their families. It seems the businessmen and the city magistrates were not very fond of Paul. But the prisoners with whom he had been incarcerated loved him. Paul no doubt changed their lives.
I have noted that often when people get saved from a life of crime filled with sin, they get radically saved. Those who were all out sinners often make sold out saints. This is one reason we never want to give up on sinners. When a notorious sinner gets saved, they don’t mind telling all their friends and that’s the stuff revival is made of.
At any rate, the Apostle Paul found himself inspired to write some fairly direct words to the converts in the Philippian Church. This evening we are going to concentrate on the first few verses of Chapter 2 and expound on the timeless truth of God’s Word to the Church. These truths still apply to us today.
Philippians 2
1 ¶ Therefore if there is
any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the
Spirit, if any affection and mercy,
2 fulfill my joy by being
like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
3 Let nothing be
done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each
esteem others better than himself.
4 Let each of you look out
not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
5 Let this mind be in you
which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, being in the form of
God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
7 but made Himself of no
reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness
of men.
8 And being found in
appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of
death, even the death of the cross.
9 Therefore God also has
highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under
the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12
¶ Therefore, 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;
13 for it is God who works in you both to will
and to do for His good pleasure.
14
¶ Do all things without complaining and
disputing,
15 that you may become blameless and harmless,
children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse
generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,
16 holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.
If we are to grow and walk in the grace of God, we must apply these admonitions of the Holy Spirit to our lives.
Although we do not get saved by works, it is works that saves us …
someone else’s work!
