Work Out Your Own Salvation

Introduction to Philippians 2:12-18 and its Context

0:03 The sermon was preached on Sunday morning, May 17, 1981, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:12 Now will you follow, please, in your own Bibles as I read from the second chapter of Philippians, Philippians chapter 2, and this morning we begin our study of the second major paragraph in this chapter, the paragraph beginning with verse 12 and concluding with verse 18. I shall read then in your hearing Philippians 2, verses 12 through 18. So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only,

0:50 but now 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. Work for His good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and questionings, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without blemish, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you are seen as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, that I may have whereof to glory in the day of Christ, that I did not run in vain,

1:35 neither labor in vain. Yes, and if I am offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all. And in the same manner do ye also joy and rejoice with me.

1:55 Now, as I have already alluded to, the fact that today we begin an examination of the contents of this paragraph read in your hearing. And whenever we do this, it is incumbent upon us to ask, what, if any, connection exists between the thoughts embodied in the words of this paragraph by the inspiration of the Spirit and the flow of thought which precedes it. I say it is incumbent upon us to do that. It is not merely the duty of preachers and those who give themselves to the exorcism,

2:36 exposition of the word, but upon the ordinary reader of the word of God as well. And this duty and responsibility is peculiarly increased when the language of Scripture itself indicates that there is a connection between the thoughts before us and the thoughts that precede. Whenever you find a passage beginning with a wherefore or a therefore, or a so then, or an and, or a but, these connecting words, there is upon us, I say, a solemn responsibility to ask the question,

3:20 what precisely is the connection which binds these units of thought together? Well, I would remind you of something that is perhaps obvious to most of you, but certainly will not hurt, it will not hurt to underscore, that the Apostle has given the general exhortation embodied in the language of chapter 1 and verse 27. The people of God are to live lives worthy of the gospel of Christ. And under the umbrella of that first formal exhortation or word of direction,

3:58 the Apostle then gives some particulars with respect to how believers may solely, or live as to manifest a lifestyle worthy of the gospel. First with respect to their face in the direction of the world, verses 27 to 30 of chapter 1, and then with their faces towards one another, chapter 2 verses 1 through 11. And in that preceding paragraph, the Apostle gives this call to Christian unity, a call that is, but, by this marvelous example of the graces essential to Christian unity,

4:43 that example being nothing other than our Lord Jesus Christ as He passes from His state of pre-incarnate glory to the state of incarnate humiliation and on to the state of incarnate exaltation. And so the Apostle has set forth the duty of believers. He has spelled out that duty in some detail. He has then given them an example of precisely what it is to work out that duty in having the mind of our Lord Jesus Christ in them.

The Critical Importance of Philippians 2:12-13 for Christian Living

5:22 But you see, Paul is a great biblical realist. And he knows that the most clearly articulated duty and the most powerfully illustrated duty will still meet with great hindrances in the actual performance of that duty by the people of God. And so he adds to the articulation of their duty the powerful illustration of their duty what we might call is an impassioned exhortation, encouragement, and entreaty to perform their duty. And that impassioned exhortation,

6:04 encouragement, and entreaty is embodied particularly in the verses that we will concentrate upon this morning, verses 12 and 13. So then, my beloved, in the light of the clear articulation of your duty, in the light of this powerful example of your duty, so then, my beloved, even as you've 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 works in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

6:48 And those words constitute, I say, an impassioned exhortation, encouragement, and entreaty for the performance of the duties already articulated and so powerfully executed. And so powerfully illustrated in the preceding verses. Now, having said a word about the connection of these words, these thoughts, with what precedes, let me say, secondly, by way of introduction, something about the critical importance of these verses, namely verses 12 and 13. They are critically important with reference to the whole subject

7:31 of how to live the life of God. As surely as verses 6 through 11 are a watershed of the teaching of the Bible concerning the person and work of Christ, verses 12 and 13 are a watershed of the biblical teaching on the subject how are we to live the Christian life. Now, error is always more simple and many times more powerful, plausible than truth. Truth is like a razor's edge.

8:10 Error is like a vast flatland. And many times the worst and most crippling and damning errors in religion are comprised of one aspect of truth viewed, believed, and practiced independent of its God-given counterpart.

8:36 You get what I'm saying? You get what I'm saying? You get what I'm driving at. As one has wisely said, a half-truth presented as a whole truth constitutes a whole untruth.

8:49 Now, one major area in which errors crippling, deluding, and at times damning errors abound is the whole aspect of how are we to live the Christian life. There are those who teach, have taught in the past and teach to this very day that the heart and soul of the Christian life is to be understood in terms of a disposition of letting go and letting God. What one has rather humorously described as the rely and relax perspective on the Christian life.

9:34 We are to open ourselves as it were to the inner world. We are to open ourselves as it were to the inner world. We are to open ourselves as it were to the inner world. To the inrush of the spirit or totally yield to the impulses of the indwelling Christ or to change the imagery.

9:46 We are to be as passive as a funnel allowing the water of life to flow through us. And if we can only attain to that level of consecrated surrender and passivity, we shall have unlocked the great secret to the Christian life. And any suggestion that we are to wrestle, that we are, to struggle, that we are to fight, that we are rationally and consciously to engage all of our faculties in pursuit of the revealed will of God is looked upon as anathema. And on the other end of the spectrum, there are those who seem the biblical emphasis upon struggle and warfare and fighting and agonizing

10:31 and conscious effort allow the Christian life to drift into a kind of cold, hearted, unemotional, calculated, almost wooden obedience to precepts and any suggestion that there are present powerful dynamics of the work of God in us at the level of our affections and altering and adjusting our judgment and our choosing. They regard that as the height of mystical fancy. Well, who's right? Well, I suggest that this passage, perhaps more than any other passage in all of Scripture, gives to us

11:15 a distillation of the biblical balance on this great subject of how to live the Christian life. And so it is important for us as we come to the passage not only to see its connection with the preceding context, but to come to it with the consciousness that this passage is of crucial importance for every facet of the Christian life. And so I urge you to gird up the loins of your mind determined in dependence upon the Holy Spirit and in the context of conscious mental endeavor to grasp its teaching. As we attempt to think our way through the passage, consider with me,

The Recipients of the Exhortation: The Beloved in Christ

12:00 first of all, the recipients of this exhortation. To whom is this exhortation addressed? Well, the text begins with the words, So then, my beloved ones. Now, the Apostle Paul who penned these words was a large-hearted man.

12:24 He not only had an expansive mind that could give birth to some of the most profound thoughts ever recorded by any human being in any epoch of human history, but he was also a man with a large heart as well as an expansive head. He could speak of his heart being heavy and broken for his countrymen, his fellow Jews. He could speak of his heart being broken over the waywardness of his disciples. And there are tremendous insights to the largeness of the heart of this great man that took in not only the heart

13:08 but not only the concerns of those closest to him and all of the churches but even a lost and a sin-sick world. But as large as his heart was, it had a restricted channel with respect to a special kind of love which was reserved for the people of God. And when you find him saying, So then, my beloved ones, he is using a term which is never used of the unconverted. It is a term which is never used of his fellow men simply as his fellow creatures

13:51 created in the image of God. It is a special word indicating the unique and distinguishing love which the apostle had to those who were the children of God. In 1 John, 5, we read, Whosoever is begotten of God loves the one who is begotten of him. And again, John says, By this we know we pass from death unto life because we love the brethren.

14:26 And there is in the largest, most sanctified heart not only a general love to all men. And the text in Galatians reflects that. Let us do good unto all men. Do it in love.

14:40 But especially to those of the household of faith, there is that distinguishing, peculiar love to the people of God. And so the recipients of this exhortation is not to be understood or are not to be understood as all men in general, but the people of God in particular. So then, my beloved ones, peculiarly loved by me because peculiarly loved by God. Now, how did these Philippians come within the orbit of that peculiar love which the Apostle bore to them as Christians?

15:24 Well, they came into that orbit, according to chapter 1, by their participation in the Gospel. He writes to them, thanking God upon every remembrance of them for their fellowship, in the Gospel from the first day. You see, there is but one way that any one of us can come within that circle of the distinguishing love of God. We must come into contact with the Gospel and with Him who is the central theme of that Gospel, even Jesus Christ.

16:00 And we can discover the love of God only in the person and work of the Lord. And these Philippians who at one time would not have fit into that category, the Gospel came to them. And not only did the Gospel come to them, but according to verse 6, God through the Gospel began a gracious work of His own power in their hearts, being confident of this very thing that He who began a good work in you. You see, the Gospel not only came and impinged upon their minds, or merely exerted an influence upon some aspects

16:43 of their external conduct, but God did something in them. In the language of John 3, they were born from above. They were effectually called into vital union of Jesus Christ with Jesus Christ. They were, according to chapter 1 in verse 7, partakers with the Apostle Paul of the grace of God.

17:11 Now, why do I emphasize what seems to be so obvious? Well, for the simple reason that no doubt sitting here this morning there are men and women, fellows and girls, who do not fit this category. I could not scripturally call you my beloved. Not because I do not love you, but because you have not come in to that circle of God's peculiar redeeming love which is found only in Christ Jesus our Lord.

17:47 And so this passage does not address itself to you. It is not telling you what to do. It is speaking to those who are in union with Christ, who have embraced the Gospel, who have had a good work begun in them. And if you are not, in that category, then the word of God to you is not work out your salvation.

18:11 The word of God to you is repent and believe the Gospel that you might be saved. That's the word to you. When one of the members of this church, if he was still alive when this epistle was written, was that well-known Philippian jailer. And when under the sense of his sin and impending doom he cried out to Paul and Silas, he says, what must I do to be saved?

18:37 Paul did not say, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. He said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And having obeyed that summons to faith, he then stepped into the circle of the beloved ones and was in all likelihood there the day this letter was brought by Epaphroditus and read in the hearing, of the people of God. And so I want to state in as simple and plain language as possible, if you sit here this morning, man, woman, boy or girl, a stranger to your sin, a stranger to the reality

19:21 of God's mercy in Jesus Christ, this text is not telling you what to do to become a Christian. This text is addressed to those who are the people of God, who are in Christ Jesus, and in Christ are in the category of the beloved ones. Well, so much for the recipients of the exhortation. Now will you notice in the second place the essence or the substance of the exhortation.

The Essence of the Exhortation: Command, Conditions, and Comfort

19:51 When Paul wrote this impassioned exhortation, what were the major units of his thought? Well, let me suggest that there are three. There is first of all the central commandment, which is work, out your own salvation. Then there are the conditioning aspects of obedience to that commandment, and there are two of them, not as in my presence only, but in my absence.

20:21 Secondly, with fear and with trembling. So you have the conditioning aspects of obedience to that commandment. And then you have finally the comforting basis for obedience to the commandment, for it is, God, who is at work in you both to will and to do. So the essence of the exhortation contains first of all the central commandment.

20:48 And the central commandment is this, work out your own salvation. Now the verb comes in the form of a present imperative. That means it is a duty that is continually to be performed. And it directs the people of God at Philippi to be engaged in a constant and conscious energetic labor, working out the privileges and demands of what it means to be a saved person.

21:26 Notice the text does not say work to attain your own salvation. The salvation is already there. He says, work out your own salvation. It's already yours.

21:43 So it is not working to attain it. It is working because it is already theirs in possession. And they are to work out that salvation. That is, they are to give themselves to the cultivation of those very graces and attitudes and characteristics described in the preceding context.

22:10 If we set our minds and hearts to let our lifestyle be worthy of the gospel, both with respect to our faces in the direction of the world, chapter 1, 27 to 30, both with respect to our faces in the direction of our brethren, what are we doing? We are working out our own salvation. It is the context which gives us the exposition of the words of this central commandment. We are to work out our own salvation.

22:45 And this is a call, if it is anything, to engage all of our faculties in order to see to it that the salvation freely given becomes the salvation fully manifested and worked out in every detail of human relationships, both in the spiritual world, in the spiritual world, in the spiritual world, in the spiritual world, in the spiritual world, in the spiritual world, in the spiritual world, in the spiritual world, both with respect to the world and with respect to the people of God. That's the central commandment. Be continually working out your own salvation. But now notice the conditioning aspects of our obedience to that commandment.

23:23 And the first one is a temporal condition. Notice the language. We are to do it at all times. So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation.

23:46 You see, that central commandment to work out the salvation is to be conditioned on the one hand by this temporal word and on the other by an attitudinal word. They are to do it at all times. Now, why does he emphasize this? We had a similar reference in chapter 1 in verse 27.

24:09 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ that whether I come and see you or be absent, I may hear of your state.

24:21 For the simple reason that the Philippians had a tremendous affection for the Apostle Paul. You will remember that it's of this church that he said, when I set forth on my missionary journey, no other church had fellowship with me but you only. No other church showed its love in the sense that we would say putting its hand where its mouth was. There were no doubt other churches that spoke profusely of their love for the Apostle.

24:49 But the Philippians opened their purse strings and they stood with him. And they were so concerned for the Apostle that again and again they sent to his, to respond to his physical necessities. And Paul understood that where you have deep affection, between a congregation of God's people and a spiritual leader, their obedience to the word of God brought through that leader is often influenced by the presence of that leader. His presence is a constant reminder of his message.

25:27 And his message contained these entreaties to live a life worthy of the gospel. But now he's concerned that while he is there, in a Roman prison, not knowing if indeed he will ever see them again, though as we've seen in previous studies, he hopes that he will return to them. It's his great concern that they be weaned from all obedience that to any degree is conditioned by the presence of their spiritual leader. He says, you are to work out your own salvation, not as in my presence only.

26:04 You did that when I was with you. And I can commend you that your lifestyle was one of obedience when I was among you. But now, much more so in my absence, work out your own salvation. And it's only as the Philippians adhere with renewed vigor to the revealed will of God in the absence of Paul that they will give joy to the apostle in the knowledge that their supreme attachment was not to him, but to his Lord.

26:38 And they will put to silence all the accusations of an onlooking world that these people are just wrapped up in this super personality. They're just following a human leader. They're just taken up with the charisma of this great apostle. He says, no, at all times, whether I'm present, much more in my absence, make it evident that your supreme attachment and supreme loyalty are to the Lord Jesus.

27:10 But not only does he give this conditioning aspect of the command at all times, but the second conditioning element has to do with their attitude with all godly sobriety. Look at the language. And in the original, this is forceful because it's put forward. If we were to give a more wooden translation, it would be like this.

27:31 So then, my beloved, even as you've always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, with fear and with trembling, work out your own salvation. And the fear and the trembling are put forward to emphasize that everything of the working out of the salvation given is to be marked by fear and by trembling. Now this couplet of words is used by the apostle in three other places. 1 Corinthians 2.3

28:08 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. 2 Corinthians 7 and verse 15. You may want to look at that passage. It's a strange passage on the surface.

28:22 But I believe it will help to open up the meaning of the words.

28:29 Speaking of the Corinthians receiving Titus and his affection is more abundantly toward you while he remembers the obedience of you all, how that we, with fear and trembling, you received him. And then in Ephesians 6 and verse 5, a word of directive given to servants and the demand of obedience to their masters. Ephesians 6 and verse 5. Servants, be obedient unto them that according to the flesh are your masters with fear and trembling.

29:08 Now if fear, and trembling are to characterize the entire process of the working out of our salvation, then we must spare no pains to ascertain precisely what do those words mean. And to help you in that attempt, let me say what they obviously do not mean.

29:33 Paul is not directing them to carry out their salvation in a context of the cringe and fear of the criminal who wonders when he's going to be apprehended. You can just picture the man who every time he turns a corner looks over his shoulder wondering if the long arm of the law might be there to seize him. The person who has stolen goods and can never really enjoy them for fear that he might be caught with the goods in his hand. That kind of a cringing fear of the criminal who has not yet been caught but whose conscience tells him his sin will ultimately find him out.

30:17 There would be no consistency between that kind of fear and the command later on given in this epistle, rejoice in the Lord. And again I say rejoice. Whatever this fear is, it is not inconsistent with a life of joy. So it cannot be the fear and trembling of a criminal who wonders whether or not he's about to be caught.

30:41 Nor is it the fear of uncertainty. Perhaps as I work out my salvation along the way I'm going to lose it and everything will come to naught. He already had told these people in verse 6, being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ. So it's not the fear of uncertainty.

31:06 Well, what then is it? Let me suggest it is the fear of what one has accurately called anxious solicitude and self-distrust. In other words, it is a fear growing out of the awareness of the tremendous importance of the issues in hand and the consciousness that in my flesh dwells no good thing. Such great issues are at stake.

31:37 The glory of Christ, the honor of the Savior, who being in the form of God, thought it not a thing to be selfishly retained to remain equal with God, but emptied himself taking the form of a servant in the light of my deep desire that I not live so as to dishonor the name of so glorious a Savior. In the light of the fact that a world is looking on and I am to live a life that reflects the power and the glory and the magnanimity of the grace of God in the gospel, in the light of that there is that fear, that fear of deep and anxious concern lest I live beneath my privileges

32:21 and bring reproach to my Savior. There is that trembling that grows out of the awareness that though I am called to such a high calling and though the grace of God has been given to fulfill that calling, I know that in my flesh dwells no good thing. To will is present with me, but how to perform I know not. And there is that constant vulnerability of my remaining sin.

32:51 And so this fear then and trembling are a mingling of that godly fear which is concerned with pleasing our Savior above all else. That fear that grows out of a wholesome distrust of the flesh, that fear and that trembling that acknowledges the vulnerability of poor, weak, human flesh in the face of the world and the devil. Now that element is to condition all of our obedience for the entire time that we are working out our own salvation.

33:37 We are to work out our own salvation central commandment, the conditioning aspects at all times and with all godly sobriety and then finally you have the comforting basis for obedience to the command. And that's exactly what the apostle gives us in verse 13. If I am to work out my own salvation with fear and trembling, if that awesome responsibility is laid upon me, in all of my weakness and frailty, what comfort can I have that I will not bring reproach to my Savior?

34:20 What comfort and consolation can I have that there will be both the willing and the performing of that great responsibility? Well, verse 13 answers the question. For, for, it is God who is at work in you both to will you. To will and to work for His good pleasure.

34:43 And here the comforting basis for obedience to that command has three strands of thought. The reality of God's working, the extent of His working, and the sovereignty of His working. Look at it. It is God who is at work in you.

35:02 And notice there is no if after that.

35:07 It is God who is at work in you. It doesn't say if you yield enough, if you surrender enough, if you believe enough, if, if, if. There is no condition following the affirmation. There is a certain statement of the reality of God's working in all in whom He has begun a good work.

35:30 If God has begun the good work, continuing to work, and He shall yet work until His work is completed.

35:42 And that's the consolation in the struggle and the conflict in the agony of the Christian life.

35:50 A struggle and an agony and a conflict which involves all of my faculties, yes. But in the midst of it there is this reality of God's working. He is at work in you. But then look at the extent of His working.

36:07 And here the language is amazing. He is at work in you. How? Doing what?

36:13 Two things. Both to will and to work. In other words, God's working touches the deepest springs of my redeemed personality at the level of my chooser. He is working in me to will.

36:34 Now think of all of the factors that influence the activities of the will. The judgment of the mind, the impress of the affections, all of these things putting pressure upon the will so that it chooses in terms of what it deems a worthy object. It chooses that which it desires. Here is the marvelous statement that God is at work not in some general distant way, but in a most intimate, imminent way.

37:09 He works so that though our wills are not obliterated or subdued, suspended, in all of their conscious acting, it is God who is at work to will, and even more than that, look, He works in you to will and actually to work. Well, wait a minute, I thought I'm to work out, and now you tell me it's God that's doing the working. Well, is it God or is it me?

37:40 Well, it's not either or, it's both. He so works in me to will and to work that He doesn't cancel my working. He secures the fact that I shall actually work that which is well-pleasing in His sight. So we have the reality of God's working.

38:03 He is at work in you. Secondly, the extent of His working to will and to work, and then the sovereignty of God's working. The last phrase could be translated for the sake of His good pleasure. Or as one has rendered it in a paraphrase, in fulfillment of His free, sovereign purpose of grace.

38:30 He is at work in us to will and to work in fulfillment of His free, sovereign purpose of grace. You have a parallel usage in Ephesians chapter 1 that points in the same direction. And here the Apostle, the Apostle underscores that in all of our working out of our salvation, there is an element of sovereignty at work. God is working in us to will and to work in fulfillment of His free, sovereign purposes of grace.

Practical Lesson 1: God's Working and Our Working are Concurrent Realities

39:11 Now having sought to unpack the basic meaning of the text, we looked at the recipients of the exhortation. They are the beloved, the beloved ones, those who are in Christ. Then the substance of the exhortation. It is a command to work out the salvation.

39:29 It's to be conditioned by those two factors at all times and in fear and trembling. And then the great consolation as we seek to obey it is that threefold consolation. God is at work. The extent of His working to will and to work.

39:47 And then the sovereignty of His working according to His good pleasure. Now then, what are the great and practical lessons of this text? And here I want to underscore as time permits three or four of those practical lessons that derive from this text that are so crucial in this matter of living the Christian life. And the first one is this.

40:14 According to this text, God's working and our working are concurrent realities. Now what do we mean by concurrent? Well, they're going on at the same time. My speaking and the hum of that fan circulating air above your heads are concurrent realities.

40:38 I'm speaking. The fan is humming. My speaking does not stop its humming. Its humming does not stop my speaking.

40:46 They are concurrent realities. All right? This passage teaches that in the Christian life, God's working and our working are concurrent realities. Look at it.

41:00 It's so plain on the face of the text. I marvel how anyone claiming to believe His Bible could come up with some of the theories on the Christian life that have not only been propounded, but embalmed in large books and even at times become bestsellers. Look at the text. Circle in your mind's eye.

41:20 These two things. Work for God is working in. Now you see the concurrent realities? A present imperative.

41:33 Be ye continually what is continually working in. God is working in. Concurrent realities. You say, why do you get so excited about that passage?

41:49 That's so obvious. You just got to put filler? Well, if you'd struggled through some of the theories on the Christian life that some of us have struggled through, you'd know why I'm excited. Because, you see, the reality of His working is not suspended because we work.

42:07 The reality of His working is not suspended because He works. It's not as though the minute God begins to work, I speak, the fan stops. The minute I stop, the fan begins. It's not as though you have this kind of an alternating efficiency of power.

42:27 No, no. The reality of God's work, His working is not suspended because we work. No, no. Nor is the necessity of our working negated because He works.

42:43 And there's the fatal flaw of many theories on the Christian life. They say if you're consciously struggling, consciously working, consciously laboring, you're grieving and quenching and stifling the spirit. Stop your struggling. Stop your struggling.

43:00 Stop your striving. Stop your working. Let go and let God that the indwelling Christ in the language of Trumbull will actually live in and through you.

43:15 And He can arrest temptation before it ever gets to you.

43:21 That's frightening teaching if people take it seriously. And some of us have attempted to take it seriously. And we know the terrible consequences both on the one hand of a crippling bondage and subjectivism and, on the other hand, of a frightening kind of antinomianism that even blames the sin of the believer upon God. No, no.

43:45 God's working and our working are concurrent realities. The reality of His working is not suspended because we work, nor is the necessity of our working negated because He works. Just think of it in terms of preaching. Who alone can make preaching effective?

44:04 My God. That's why preachers who have any sense pray.

44:10 Who alone can make the Word penetrate through the outer ear and reverberate on the inner ear and reverberating on the inner ear bring the will into obedience with the Word? Who can do that but God? And that's why we pray and that's why we cry to God. Lord, send Your Spirit.

44:28 Come with power. Make the Word effectual. Lord, You must work. Does that mean then that I should stand up here like this?

44:36 Da-da-da-da-da-da-da and talk like somebody kind of a programmed computer? Well, some actually have that theory of preaching. They actually have the theory of preaching that a man should stand and not allow anything of his own emotions and personality to enter into the preaching. Just stand and be sort of a flesh-and-blood robot who is giving out the thoughts of God in an dispassionate, in an off-the-cuff accuracy that shows nothing of enthusiasm lest there be an intrusion of humanism.

45:10 of human personality in the place of the Holy Ghost. That's sheer nonsense.

45:16 No, no. Having prayed and having asked God to work, then there is in Scripture a whole body of directives to those who would preach. Cry aloud. Lift up thy voice.

45:29 Spare not. Teach the Word. Give thyself wholly to these things. There is to be then the preacher's conscious activity of throwing all of his faculties, his mind, and soul, and body, and spirit, everything into the task of preaching while all the while knowing if God doesn't work, it's all in vain.

Practical Lesson 2: God's Working is the Basis of Our Trust and Confidence

45:52 God's working and our working are concurrent realities. Secondly, God's working is to be the basis of our trust and our confidence.

46:03 You see it in the passage? It's as though believers say, Paul, we're hearing you loud and clear. We hear you, Paul. You're telling us that in this matter of living a life worthy, worthy of the gospel, both in the face of the world and in the church and with the great example of Christ before us, we're to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

46:23 Paul, we hear you, but oh, what ground of confidence can we have that there'll be any good come from our effort? He says, For it is God who is at work in you both to will and to work according to His own sovereign, gracious purposes. Child of God, God's working and the certainty and sovereignty and extent of it is to be the basis of your trust and confidence. That's why the Christian who is exerting himself scripturally will be a prayerful man or woman, a humble man or woman, a dependent man or woman, and a praiseful man or woman.

47:09 You see, it is not our effort is to be the basis of our trust and confidence. It is to be the certainty, the extent and the sovereignty of God's working that is to be the basis of our confidence. But then I follow with the next principle. Our working is to be the focus of our conscious effort.

Practical Lesson 3: Our Working is the Focus of Our Conscious Effort

47:34 Though God's working is to be the basis of our trust and confidence, our working is to be the focus of our conscious effort. Be continually working out your own salvation. And that means you've got to put your mind on what it is to work out one's salvation. We must go back over the passage and see those qualities which indicate a life worthy of the gospel.

48:03 How we're to have the mind of Christ, not looking upon our own things, but looking upon the things of others. In other words, this passage does not lend itself to any justification for sluggishness, for passivity, and listen carefully, it gives no basis for waiting for divine urges, impulses, and so-called leadings of the Spirit. There's not a shred of evidence for that in this passage. You see, some people say, oh, God works in me to will. Now I'll sit back

48:40 now and wait till I feel a little divine zapping in my will. And then I, whoop, whoop, there comes, there comes, now where's it leading me? Oh, I got a leading, I got a leading, whoop, whoop, and then they go. Now we laugh, but that's true.

48:56 That's true. God is at work to will and to work. Oh my, if that's so, then I'm going to sit back and wait, and I'm going to pray that the Holy Ghost will give me promptings, the Holy Ghost will give me leadings, and then they throw their minds into neutral, they put their efforts, as it were, on the shelf, and they just passively, as it were, just lay the inner part of their personality open to an impulse, and when they feel an impulse, they say, whoop, there it is, God's working in me to will. And then they begin to move, saying, if I feel myself carried along in that direction, then I'll know it's really of God because now He's working in me to work.

49:32 If I feel any reluctance, if I feel any dullness, oh, then I know God's not in that, because He's not working in me to work. My friends, you beware of that. You open yourself to spirits other than the Holy Spirit. You are not to be passive.

49:49 You're not to wait for urges and impulse and leadings. You're to keep your nose stuck in this book. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my pathway. And then as you read again and again in the 119th Psalm, David does not talk about being carried along into those precepts.

50:10 He says, I have chosen the way of thy precepts. I will run in the way of thy precepts. When thou shalt enlarge my heart. You see, he's conscious of his dependence upon the Lord, but he says that dependence does not negate his determination to run, to walk, to plant his feet consciously and deliberately in the path marked out by God. I read

50:37 something frightening the other day by a man who in many respects has been such a blessing to the church of Christ, and yet he dared to say that if you have to do something with a sense of plodding determination, with a sense of calculated will committed to a course of action, he said it's probably that you are grieving and quenching the spirit that you are not carried along in that duty almost automatically.

51:10 Now my friends, if that's true, then some of us better pack it in and quit. Because the history of our lives is probably 75% center more, doing that which we know to be revealed in scripture, conscious not of divine impulses, but that the flesh is lusting against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, conscious of the pressure of the world to squeeze us in its mold. And yet in dependence upon God we cry for strength to hack and hew and cut through the reluctance of our flesh in the opposition of the devil. And when we're done, we don't reach around, and pat ourselves on the back,

51:54 but we fall upon our faces and say, Lord, you worked in me both the right choices and the ability to pursue them.

52:03 You see, our working is to be the focus of our conscious effort. An old Dutch theologian captured this truth beautifully when he said, when we are called upon to speak, to act, or to fight, we do so as though we were doing it all ourselves. Not perceiving it is another who works in us both to will and to do. But as soon as we finish the task successfully and agreeably to the will of God in scripture, as men and women of faith, we prostrate ourselves before him and cry, Lord, the work was yours, as were the prayers

52:47 in which we sought your help to do it, and the praises which we now render for what you enabled us to do. That's it. We do, hardly conscious of anything, but the mind focused upon the duty, the whole inner psychology being one of conscious, deliberate obedience in a spirit of dependence, yes, but we don't feel God at work in us. We know he's working in us to will and to do because we will.

53:24 Because our wills and our performance are suspended. Oh, may God help us to get hold of that great principle that is surely his. His working is the basis of our trust and confidence. Our working is to be the focus of our conscious effort.

Practical Lesson 4: Our Working is the Only Certain Evidence of His Working

53:42 And then finally, our working is the only certain evidence of his working. What does he do? He works in us to will and to work. Well, how can I know he's working in me?

53:55 As I'm willing and working that which he's revealed as his will. You see, I do not know he is working because I'm carried off into great mystic flights. Into great subjective experiences and tingles up and down my spine. No, no. I know he

54:15 is working in me as I am willing and doing the good and acceptable and perfect will of God as revealed in the Holy Scriptures.

Application for Believers: Diligence and Dependence

54:27 The only solid evidence that he is at work in me is that I am willing and working the thing that he has revealed to be his will in the word of God. Well, some of you may sit there this morning and say, Pastor, if I ever heard a bunch of double talk, I heard it this morning. Well, my friend, I didn't write it in the Bible. If that's double talk to you, you go to God and ask him to give you light by the Spirit upon this great truth.

54:58 You see how many practical aspects it has? What do you do when you're sitting here and halfway through a sermon your mind feels dull? Well, you sit there and throw yourself into passivity and say, oh well, if God will work in me and alert mine, if God will perform in me a determination, then I'll...

55:14 No, no. The Bible says you gird up the loins of your mind. God says that we are to set our minds. God says that we are consciously and deliberately to give ourselves to crying out after knowledge, seeking it as for hidden treasure and for precious substance. Proverbs

55:34 chapter 2. So you feel a dullness coming over you. What do you do? You shake it off.

55:40 If you need to, in an unobtrusive way, you reach behind your back and pinch yourself on your little roll of blubber there and you do whatever's necessary to keep yourself awake. Oh, you say, that's ridiculous, Pastor, is it? Is it? Are you determined to get hold of what God has said? Then you'll do

55:58 anything short of making the fool of yourself to do it. And then when you come to the end and say, Lord, I got through and I got through that period of dullness and I grasped it. What do you do? You don't congratulate yourself. You say,

56:13 Lord, thank you for working in me to will and to work for your good pleasure. And you instinctively give all of the praise to the living God. And my friend, if you're not a Christian, maybe this explains why. You've been able to tidy up certain aspects of your life that are a little distasteful to you. But now

Application for Unbelievers: Cry for Mercy and Experience God's Power

56:34 you've hit a stone wall with certain other things and you know the Bible's clear with regard to what you're to will and what you're to do. But you say before those things, I have no power. I've been able to clean up this part of my act and tidy up this part and rearrange that. But before this sin and that sin and the other sin, I'm powerless. My friend,

56:59 what a mercy that God's allowed that. Lest you should deceive, yourself into thinking you can be your own savior. Those sins before which all of your resolutions, before which all of your determination, before which all of your efforts, those sins in the presence of which all those things have failed, there is one who can give you the grace to conquer them. It's the God of this text who can work in us to will what is right in those areas and actually give us the power to form what is right in those areas. You say, I can't

57:37 believe that. My friend, sitting here this morning are people who at one time were enslaved to every single major category of sin listed in the Bible and seen in our society today. I have sat with my fellow elders and heard the testimony. People who were utterly addicted to booze and alcohol, liberated.

58:00 People addicted to illicit sex of every form. Liberated and delivered so that fornicators no longer fornicate.

58:15 Homosexuals no longer indulge their perversion. Kids who hated their parents no longer hate them. And parents who didn't give a hoot about their kids now love them in spite of all of the things that have happened to fracture and destroy any structure of love. Sitting here in this place are living monuments that when God goes to work in you, to will and to work there is nothing, nothing that can stand before his mighty power. And oh my friend

58:47 if you're here is one who feels utterly helpless, thank God it's the helpless Jesus came to save. And you can take the place of that poor blind beggar. When Jesus was passing by he cried out son of David, have mercy on me. And people say shut up.

59:05 He got no time for old blind beggars. Shut up! And I love the passage it says, but he cried the louder. Saying son of David have mercy on me. And then some of the most

59:17 beautiful words in the Bible it says in Jesus stood still. You see the son of God froze in his tracks. Not when some Pharisee was walking by parading his stuff saying you know I thank thee I'm not like the rest of this crowd. I'm this, I'm the Lord would have kept right on going ministering to the needy.

59:33 But when he heard a poor blind beggar saying have mercy, have mercy that froze the son of God. In his tracks. And he turned to him and he says what do you want me to do for you? Oh that's a stupid question. If you're blind

59:46 it's obvious what you want. But the Lord wanted him to express his need and he said Lord that I may receive my sight. I've been able to do a lot of things by my begging. I've been able to keep food in my belly, clothes in my back. But Lord

60:00 my begging can't open my eyes. Have mercy Lord and do for me what only you can do. Now some of you ought to take that place of that beggar. You've been able to do some things by your own begging.

60:13 Huh? You've been able to straighten up your act here, there and the other place. But what are your blind eyes? What is that sin that you cannot conquer?

60:23 You cannot master? There is one who can. And his name is Jesus. And when you take the place of a poor helpless beggar and cry to him, the word of God says, him that comes to me, I'll in no wise cast out. Oh go to

60:39 him sinner, so that you may join the ranks of those in whom he's working to will and to work for his good pleasure. And he's going to carry that work clean on till the last day. And when he's done with us, it'll be such that we'll be in amazement to angels and cherubim and seraphim when we are made into the perfect moral likeness of the Lord Jesus. That's an amazing thing. Maintaining all of

61:05 our distinct identity and yet wonder of wonders we will stand. Fully conformed to the image of his own beloved son. If you don't know that savior, give yourself no rest till you do. And if he's yours my friend, he is yours not only to bring you into the way but to keep you all along that way. Let us

61:29 pray. Our father, we marvel that in your grace and kindness you have made such ample provision for our salvation. We thank you that you are the God who does work in us to will and to work according to your own good pleasure. And we pray that the principles and truths of the text examined this morning will be written upon our hearts by the spirit, giving us direction, preserving us from

62:12 error, prodding us on to live lives worthy of the gospel. We pray for those our father in whom you are not working. They are conscious of that as they face those areas of sin before which they are powerless. Oh Lord, smash their pride. Oh God,

62:34 we pray that you would give them to see that you resist the proud but give grace to the humble. May they come like that poor blind beggar and cry for mercy at the feet of Jesus. Seal them the word to our hearts. Work in us from this word that which is well pleasing in your sight and to your name and to your name alone be praise and honor and