SERMON BRIEF
Date Written: January 24, 2001
Date Preached: January 24, 2001
Church: BBC (PM) Wed Night
FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENTS
Series: Great Imperatives for the Christian Walk
Title: The Imperative of Cooperation
Text: Phil 2:12-13
INTRODUCTION:
Begin by showing the overheads and reviewing from the past 4 weeks, pass out sheets for notes.
As Christians who live for and serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I believe that we need to give serious attention to the many great imperatives that came from the pen of the Apostle Paul.
You might ask why we need to pay attention to these imperatives? Well we know that Paul was a veteran soldier in the service of Jesus. We know that he was a great missionary leader. We also know that Paul was a warmhearted pastor who sought not only to glorify God, but he also desired to point out the responses that we need for our spiritual growth and effectiveness in sharing the Gospel of Christ.
So in the words of our passage tonight, Paul was encouraging the disciples in the church in Philippi to cooperate with God as he carried on a good work within them.
1. GOD¡¦S GOOD WORK BEGAN AT CONVERSION (PHIL 1:6)
The church at Philippi had heard the good news of God¡¦s love as revealed in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They had heard the Gospel and knew the importance and significance of the Gospel message.
They recognized what then needed to do to receive the gift of new life. However, the Apostle Paul told them that their conversion experience was but the beginning of their response to God, and it was but the initiation of God¡¦s great redemptive work on their behalf.
Likewise this applies to today¡¦s Christians as well. Paul¡¦s words reach out to us some 2000 years later and share the same message. In our acceptance of Christ as our Savior, it is but the beginning of God¡¦s work in our lives. It is but the beginning of our response to God. It is simply the initiation of God¡¦s redemptive work on OUR behalf. But not only does God¡¦s work begin at conversion, but¡K
2. GOD¡¦S GOOD WORK IN US CONTINUES AS WE COOPERATE (PHIL 2:12-13)
I want to emphasize here that Paul was not trying to say to the believers at Philippi that they had to work their way to heaven. This was NOT the case whatsoever.
I truly hope that all of us here know that salvation comes from God and cannot come from our own works. The Bible is very clear that the soul is saved as a result of God¡¦s grace and not the result of the good works of even a very sincere and devout person (HAVE SOMEONE READ: EPH 2:8-9; TITUS 3:5)
Paul wrote these two passages as well, so you can see if Paul were telling the Philippians they had to ¡¥work¡¦ for their salvation, he would have been in conflict with himself.
What Paul WAS stressing was that as Christians we do not stop when we are saved because God has SO much more to offer. He desires that we grow in Him and He knows that ultimately we will be WITH Him forever.
Instead, Paul was letting them know that if they wanted to fully experience God¡¦s salvation from the downward pull of their fallen nature, they had to cooperate with God as he worked with them. This cooperation with God in experiencing the fullness of his salvation is what Paul is speaking about in v.12-13 when he says to ¡¥work out your salvation.¡¦
Modern translations can help us to see that for which the Apostle Paul was pleading of these and all saints:
„« The Today¡¦s English Version reads, ¡§¡KSo then, dear friends, as you always obeyed me when I was with you, it is even more important that you obey me now while I am away from you. Keep on working with fear and trembling to complete your salvation, because God is always at work in you to make you willing and able to obey His own purpose¡K¡¨
„« The Amplified New Testament reads like this, ¡§¡KTherefore, my dear ones, as you have always obeyed [my suggestions], so now, not only [with the enthusiasm you would show] in my presence but much more because I am absent, work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ). [Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.
So if we as Christians are to work with God to complete our salvation, to continue our salvation, to culminate our salvation, then¡K
a. we should make much of His book: God will communicate His will through the pages of the Bible.
b. we must find our way into the closet of prayer: Prayer is the means by which we communicate with God, but even more important, it is the means by which He communicates with us.
c. we must let the church be the church in our lives: It is thru the local expression of God¡¦s family that we can experience the presence of God and His love. It is thru the church that we receive encouragement and correction and comfort.
d. we must be responsive to the HS: He is seeking day by day not only to strengthen us, but also to use us in witnessing to unsaved people all around us.
3. GOD¡¦S GOOD WORK IN US WILL BE COMPLETED WHEN JESUS RETURNS (PHIL 3:20-21)
Our salvation begins in conversion and continues thru consecration. It will finally be consummated when Christ returns from heaven for His own. In conversion we are saved from the penalty of sin. As we cooperate with God we are saved from the power and the practice of sin. Finally when Jesus returns we will be saved from the very presence of sin.
CONCLUSION:
You see what Paul is writing about here is that he saw salvation set in three stages.
1. Salvation begins when we accept Jesus as our Savior. At that point we are saved from our sins, but God has so much more for us.
2. When we cooperate with God and begin to do these things we have listed then our salvation is moved beyond just merely accepting Christ as our Savior, but now we have accepted Him as our Lord as well. It is at this point, when we are cooperating with God that we are saved from the power and pull of sin on our lives, but that is a daily submission to God and His leadership, it is not a one and done type deal.
3. Finally our salvation will be culminated when Christ returns to gather His disciples home. It will be at that point when our salvation becomes complete and we are saved from the very presence of evil and sin. We will be in the presence of Jesus, the very presence of love and purity.
Like last week when we learned that our true citizenship is in heaven, and as disciples of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we are but pilgrims here on this world. Like the old hymn says¡K
This world is not our home;
We¡¦re just a passin¡¦ thru,
Our treasures are laid up,
Somewhere beyond the blue¡K
As citizens of the kingdom of Heaven, we must live out that citizenship in an environment that is NOT conducive to our spiritual growth.
It is in this present world that we must let our manner of life be worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Phil 1:27). This is a personal challenge to each of us.
To walk worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is impossible on our own¡Kthat is why we must begin to cooperate with God. That is why it is an imperative of the Christian walk to cooperate with God. We must cooperate with God to grow spiritually and to be able to share the love of God to those who do not yet know Him.
