Sanctification Partnership

Philip. 2:12-13 (ESV)

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but 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 work for his good pleasure.

Last time we were together, we learned how important it is to practice humility in the local church.  We learned that if a church is to be seen as a unified body of believers, humility must be at work gluing each member together into a healthy church.

The flow of Philippians moves from Humility to Unity and now Unity to Sanctification.

We see from various passages that the lost world will see Christ as they watch the church in unity being made into the image of Christ.

To address this text of Scripture, we must begin by defining a couple terms:

Justification-Is an instantaneous legal act of God in which He (1) thinks of our sins as forgiven and Christ’s righteousness as belonging to us, and (2) declares us to be righteous in His sight.—Grudem

Sanctification- Is a progressive work of God and man that makes us more and more free from sin and like Christ in our actual lives.—Grudem

Justification- Instantaneous…Declared Righteous…God’s Work Alone

Sanctification- Progressive…Being Made Righteous…God and Man’s Work

One very clear verse on justification among many is found in Romans 8

In this text we see the contrast between condemn- declaring guilty and justification declaring not guilty. Continue Reading

The Highly Exalted Savior

Philip. 2:1-11 (ESV)

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,  [2] complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.  [3] Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  [4] Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.  [5] Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,  [6] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,  [7] but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form,  [8] he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  [9] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,  [10] so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  [11] and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

In John Calvin’s vital work the Institutes of the Christian Religion (38) He writes, It is evident that man never attains a true self-knowledge until he has previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such contemplation to look into himself—Calvin

In this text before us today God has graciously revealed His very face to us so that we can contemplate accurately the face of God and then come down and look into ourselves.  After we have come back down, we may or may not like what we see.  It’s only after contemplating the perfect can we make true assessments concerning ourselves.  In essence, Mahaney in his little book on humility says the same thing Calvin did.

According to C J Mahaney in his book called Humility, Humility is honestly assessing ourselves in light of God’s holiness and our sinfulness. Continue Reading

Kingdom Citizens

Philip. 1:27-30 (ESV)

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,  [28] and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.  [29] For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,  [30] engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

In foreign relations terms, an embassy can refer both to a permanent diplomatic mission and the building in which that mission is housed. Embassies are an important part of foreign relations, since they serve as a contact point between the visiting and host nation.  Each embassy will typically have an ambassador who acts as the home country’s representative on foreign soil.

I bring this up because the idea of an embassy and an ambassador is a good picture of the church highlighted in the text today.  The church should be thought of as a Christian embassy on foreign soil and every member should be thought of as ambassadors for Christ.

2 Cor. 5:20 (ESV)

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

What is the Apostle getting at in this verse?

Paul was sent as God’s foreign minister to announce the peace treaty between God and all who trust Christ alone to be saved.  God’s foreign policy is, as Paul writes, be reconciled to God. Continue Reading

A Biblical View of Death

Philip. 1:19-26 (ESV)

for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance,  [20] as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.  [21] For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  [22] If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.  [23] I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.  [24] But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.  [25] Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith,  [26] so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

As I thought about what title to give to this week’s sermon I went back and forth.  The reason was that I didn’t want it to sound morbid.  So, I need to qualify it by saying that A Biblical View of Death is anything but morbid.  What I’d like you to do is to set aside everything you know currently or think you know about death and also all the negative feelings and emotions that go along with it.  I realize what I’m asking is impossible.  However, for the next few minutes let’s try to open our minds to see death from God’s perspective and not man’s.  If we can catch a glimpse of death the way God sees it, many things will change for us.  For most, the thought of death is a haunting sadness.  For those who are without Christ that attitude toward death is warranted.  However, for the Christian it must be different.  The way we view death really shows whether or not we trust Christ in every area of our lives even in the ending of it.  If we believe the Gospel completely then that will lead us to view death differently than those who are not in Christ.

1. A Biblical Theology of Death

Death was brought to life when sin entered our world in Genesis as Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit. Continue Reading

God’s Mission Field

Philip. 1:12-18 (ESV)

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel,  [13] so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.  [14] And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

[15] Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will.  [16] The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.  [17] The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.  [18] What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

Yes, and I will rejoice,

The February, 1956 edition of Life Magazine ran the story of five young missionaries who had died at the hands of the Aucus Tribe of Eastern Ecuador.  The same people who they were trying to contact with the Gospel.  Jim Elliot and the others gave up their lives for the Gospel.  Jim Elliot was an evangelical Christian missionary to Ecuador who, along with four others, was killed while attempting to evangelize the Waodani people through efforts known as Operation Auca.

At the time, no one understood what good could possibly come from this seemingly waste of human life.  Why did they die?  What good came out of their death? Continue Reading