LESSON 13

Classroom Goals of this time together:
* here to see and meet and learn of Jesus; to grow in each one of our own personal lives/relationships with Jesus
* to grow in our daily day-to-day JOY IN Him
* to grow in our vision /understanding of Jesus as our SAVIOR and REDEEMER everyday in the midst of our lives in a pagan world

ROE: 
* all questions are encouraged all the time
* TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER THROUGHOUT OUR TIME TOGETHER, WHETHER WE AGREE OR NOT WE MUST LOVE EACH OTHER

SUMMARY:
1:1-11  Greetings and Gratitude

1:12-26  "Pauls Personal Circumstances: the Preaching of Christ"

1:27-2:30  "The Pattern of Christian Life: The Humility of Christ"
1:27-2:4  The Exhortation to Humility  HERE is the Goal
2:5-11  The Epitome of Humility  Jesus - here is the Divine Example
2:12-18 The Exercise of Humility  here is HOW YOU experience this in YOUR daily life
2:10-30  The Examples of Humility  Timothy and Epaphroditis

How do the things he presented in this section become a REALITY in the life of a Church and it's believers??
ONLY THROUGH HUMILITY, ONE TO ANOTHER.
IT IS A POWERFUL WORD FULL OF MEANING CARRYING A PICTURE OF ABSOLUTE DEPENDENCE, OF HAVING NOTHING BUT RECEIVING ALL THINGS FROM GOD; We WILL have such a heart when we SEE OURSELVES AS WE TRUELY ARE: SINFUL AND HOPELESSLY LOST IN OUR SINS WITHOUT THE LORD TO SAVE US CONSTANTLY; 

We just finished 2:5-11; Jesus was presented as the "Epitomy of Humility"; He was presented as the totally unique and DIVINE One who HUMBLED Himself absolutely and to the utmost: "...emptied Himself...", and "...unto death...even...the cross"; 
We saw the result of His humility and obedience: EXALTATION!! The Father gave THE SON THE RECOGNITION, THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, THE HONOR that was His DUE because of His humble obedience; The Father declared to the universe what and who the Son was to Him and that the Son was INDEED WORTHY of ALL THE HONOR THAT GOD WAS DUE based upon His character and nature as expressed by His NAME; 

NOW we come to 2:12-18 The Exercise of Humility; as if Paul was saying here is HOW YOU experience this in YOUR daily life; In the previous section we saw a Divine Cause-and-Effect relationship presented: Humility results in Obedience, AND Obedience results in Exaltation; 
Now Paul wants His precious Philipians to understand that true obedience is ultimately SUBMITTING ONESELF TO GOD'S WILL; Jesus was presented as the ULTIMATE EXAMPLE AND NOW PAUL WANTS TO PRESENT THE APPLICATION; 

2:12  Paul begins this section with that all important "THEREFORE"; BECAUSE of WHO and WHAT Jesus is and did, CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING;
"...my beloved..." 
"...as ye have always obeyed...my presence...my absence" (KJV); What is Paul setting up here? How easy it is when we are young Christians to depend upon the Spiritual life of another older Christian; typically the one who lead us to the Lord; Instead of US doing any real growing, we just ride the coat-tails of the "adult", letting him (or her) carry us through our Christian life; Unfortunately, this tends to create a roller-coaster effect that we only really do what HE MAKES us to do, if the "leader" isn't around, then we coast to a complete stop in our life in Christ and in the Church; 
Paul CAN"T be there for those young Christians right now (something about a little matter of prision bars and such); SO, he's telling them that they are going to HAVE to obey his urgings and promptings from LONG DISTANCE; 

"...work out your own salvation..." The Gr word "work out" better trans as "cultivate, fully complete, carry out to the goal"; 
Their salvation WAS NOT INCOMPLETE!! There are THREE aspects of SIN we must consider when we contemplate what our precious Lord Jesus did at the cross: there is the PENALTY of sin, the POWER of sin and then the PRESENCE of sin; 
With regards the PENALTY of sin: Let there be NO doubt that when we accepted Jesus Christ as our PERSONAL Saviour, WE WERE THEN AND THERE, ONCE AND FOR ALL, ABSOLUTELY AND COMPLETELY SAVED FROM THE PENALTY OF SIN FOR ALL ETERNITY; Paul thunders out that message through out his writings (Ro 8:1); 
But, it doesn't stop there; there is still the matter of sin's POWER and PRESENCE; The new life in Christ we have CERTAINLY been given MUST BE LIVED OUT HERE AND NOW, AND IN THE CONTEXT OF OUR PERSISTANT SIN NATURE WHICH IS DEAD BUT NOT DEPARTED; Every day we MUST learn of God's provisions for us as we deal with the POWER of sin in the world and in our lives; 
That process whereby we live and GROW MORE LIKE JESUS every day and experience deliverence from sin's power is called SANCTIFICATION; 
JUST 'CAUSE WE'RE SAVED DOESN'T MEAN WE'RE DONE!! and THAT is what Paul is setting about to tell his precious Philipians; 

"...with fear and trembling..." {READ THE AMP}

BUT WAIT!! PAUL DOESN'T JUST LEAVE THEM (OR US) THERE TREMBLING!! 

2:13  {HAVE SOMEONE READ THIS VERSE AGAIN} [FROM SEVERAL DIFFERENT TRANSLATIONS]
HERE IS THE KEY TO HOW HE EXPECTS THEM (AND US) TO DO VS12!! He didn't dump alot of expectations on us and leave us to figure it out for ourselves; 
Verses like 12 tend to produce one of two responses from us; Either "I'm going to do it" or "I can't do it"This situation can and will divide a church up in may parts; FIRST, those who are still in the "I'M GONNA DO THIS" mode will often disagree as to what REALLY comprises satisfactorily completing the job; so they tend to split up into different groups ALL who have their own list of "THINGS YA GOTTA DO TO BE WORKING OUT YOUR SALVATION RIGHT"; oddly enough, they'll often accuse EACH OTHER of being LEGALISTIC; 
And they're ALL pretty hacked off at those of the second group who don't seem to have ANY list or plan, but who rather seem to be a pretty sad and discouraged looking lot; 
THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN BY ACCIDENT!! IF SATAN CAN'T ROB US OF OUR SOULS ETERNAL SALVATION, THAN HE'LL DO HIS BEST TO DEPRIVE US OF OUR JOY IN THAT SALVATION; and HOW does he do that?? BY CAUSING US TO FOCUS ON EACH OTHER AND ANYTHING ELSE SO AS TO CAUSE US TO LOSE SIGHT OF THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN DO ANY OF THIS: OUR PRECIOUS LORD JESUS; 

Paul wants them to clearly understand that that they HAVE a NEW life in Christ, Salvation was NEVER meant to be just some kind of eternal life insurance only to be somehow longed for but NOT to had until we DIE!! 
IT WAS ALWAYS MEANT TO BE SOMETHING WE LIVE AND BREATH AND EXPERIENCE AND ENJOY RIGHT HERE AND NOW: OUR ETERNAL LIFE STARTS GROWING RIGHT NOW!! 
And Satan HATES us for that, so, since he can't rob us of it, HE WILL SEEK TO SPOIL IT, TO DELAY OUR FULLNESS OF IT FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE as ONLY one CALLED the DISPOILER can do; 
He will try to fill it with his sad and sour bitterness; And Paul KNEW that to be true for his most precious Philipians (even as it is true for us here and now); 

WHAT is it that God is "working in us"?? "BOTH to will AND to do.."; The Gr lit trans "the willing and the doing"; the same word for "the doing" here is the one used above for what God "worketh": energein; 
What a wonderful word is "both"!! Had God ONLY given us the desire without the ability, that would have been the greatest cruelty, and had He given the POWER without the WILL, that would have been POINTLESS; 

In my own life, the greatest place of failure and defeat is in the matter of the WILL; THE GREATEST TEST OF MY POOR FAITH IS HERE; By NOT getting discouraged and losing heart (as if God somehow were neither WILLING nor ABLE to act as He promised HERE in THIS verse) over those things I constantly DECIDE to do wrong or decide NOT to do that would have been RIGHT; 
Are there things in your own life that are this way? Things you KNOW should be different, but you HONESTLY CAN"T seem to find the desire to change or do otherwise? DON'T DESPARE! HERE IS THE VERSE FOR YOU! The Lord Himself has promised to WORK IN you; HE can and WANTS to give you that desire to be more like Him; 
In this most precious and powerful of verses, Paul fully directs our attention and HOPE in only ONE DIRECTION: the Lord; We can ONLY "work out" what GOD "works IN" us; 

What cause Peter to sink into the sea after WALKING  on that water? He took his eyes off Jesus! 

SO WHAT DOES PAUL SAY HERE?? "FOR IT IS GOD WHICH WORKETH IN YOU..." WE MUST NEVER LOSE SIGHT OF THE SOURCE OF OUR SALVATION, NOT ONLY FOR IT'S PENALTY, BUT ALSO FOR IT'S POWER; 

WRITE THIS DOWN IN LARGE LETTERS: IT IS THE LOOK THAT JUSTIFIES, BUT IT IS THE GAZE THAT SANCTIFIES.

2:14  HE SET THE STAGE IN VS12-13 SO AS TO MAKE THE FOLLOWING POINTS; NOW HE'S GOING TO SHOW THEM HOW THEY ARE TO APPLY GOD'S PROMISE OF "THE WILLING AND THE DOING"; 
Refer back a moment to the earlier discussion of what a church can do to itself in the name of "working out salvation"; NOW WE SEE WHAT PAUL WAS REALLY GETTING TO; He wasn't just taking some theological digression just for the heck of it; 
"...murmurings and disputings..." (KJV); the Gr word trans "murmurings" is constantly used in the LXX OT of the murmurings of Israel against Moses and God in the wilderness; it means grumbling and faultfinding and complaining; HOW GREAT is our need for ANY murmuring we do to be that of hearts and knees bowed in fervent prayer FOR EACH OTHER; NOT AGAINST each other; 
The Gr word trans "disputings" is better trans as "questionings and doubting" implying that such are against the Lord; although it ALSO could be taken in a manward legal sense of "dissentions" or "litigations", described by one commentator as "outward disputing and discussion"; It is possible that the same plague of settling quarrels at pagan law-courts had broken out at Philippi as had at Corinth (I Co 6:1-11); If so, this would represent an advanced stage of the petty rivalry and vainglory Paul was concerned about for them earlier in the letter (2:3).
There is some discussion as to whether this phrase implied the Philipians were doing this against God or towards each other; FRANKLY IT IS A MOOT POINT; For to aim such attitudes and behaviors at each other is ULTIMATELY an accusation against God, declaring that HE is EITHER UNWILLING or UNABLE to FULFILL HIS WORD in vs13 in the lives of those around us; 

2:15  (KJV) "...that ye may be blameless and harmless..." 
"may be" better trans as "SHOW YOURSELVES" or "PROVE IT"; to who?? the world!! Make NO mistake about it, the rest of the world is watching us to see what all this business about Jesus is really about; THEY ARE GOING TO SEE AND HEAR ANY AND ALL "MURMURINGS AND DISPUTINGS" WHETHER WE WANT THEM TO OR NOT! 
So Pauls plea to avoid such conflicts was NOT just for their own sake alone, it wasn't just so Church picnics and socials could run a little more smoothly or to avoid fist fights at the antient versions of soft-ball games; IT WAS ALSO FOR THE SAKE OF A HOPELESSLY LOST WORLD THAT IS DEPERATELY LOOKING FOR SOME KIND OF ANSWER; 
"...blameless..."; Gr trans means "irreproachable, living a life that NO one could criticize and expect to be believed"; 
"...harmless..."; This is an ethical term, not a reflection on some sort of Christian "Wimp Factor"; Mt 10:16 "...harmless as doves..."; To these Roman readers, it carried an everyday connotation of very real meaning: It was employed in 1st century wine making meaning "UNDILUTED", and also regarding metals meaning "WITHOUT ANY WEAKING ALLOY"; hence it meant "unmixed, pure"; 
What was he trying to say?? 

"children of God"; either of God or "children of darkness"; 
"among whom ye shine as lights in the world"; This isn't a matter of just being some bright oddity, another bit of glitter that people might casually or indifferently notice and remark upon as they drive by; NO!! WE ARE BEACONS, BLAZING OUT INTO A WORLD THAT IS FRANTICALLY GROPING BLINDLY AND FRIGHTENED, LOST IN THE MOST UTTER AND ABSOLUTE BLACKNESS, A DARKNESS UNIMAGINABLE, A BLINDNESS THAT RAGES TO TEAR THEM APART WITH IT'S VERY BLEAK INTENSITY; 

2:16  But is it that the light house itself is on fire?? NO!! It is but the fortunate container of the light! AND SUCH ARE WE! WE ARE NOT THE LIGHT ITSELF, WE ARE NOTHING THAT THE WORLD SHOULD PROSPER BY US, IT IS OUR MESSAGE, THAT BLESSED "WORD OF LIFE" THAT WE HAVE AND CAN OFFER TO THEM THAT SHINES OUT INTO THE DARKNESS;