Working and Resting (Philippians 2:12-13)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:04.759 Would you remain standing with me, if you're able, and turned to the 2 00:00:04.919 --> 00:00:12.509 book of Philippians and if you've noticed on your bulletin the Textas Philippians, to 3 00:00:13.189 --> 00:00:19.429 twelve and thirteen. I want to back up a little bit. I want 4 00:00:19.469 --> 00:00:26.140 you to see the context here of twelve and thirteen. So let's back up 5 00:00:26.179 --> 00:00:32.740 to verse five of Chapter Two. Listen very carefully. This is the word 6 00:00:32.740 --> 00:00:40.850 of God. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours. In Christ, 7 00:00:40.969 --> 00:00:45.810 Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not count 8 00:00:46.009 --> 00:00:52.119 equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the 9 00:00:52.280 --> 00:00:57.759 form of a servant. Being born in the likeness of men and being found 10 00:00:57.799 --> 00:01:03.000 in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, 11 00:01:03.950 --> 00:01:08.590 even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly Exalted Him and 12 00:01:08.670 --> 00:01:12.909 bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the 13 00:01:12.989 --> 00:01:19.579 name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under 14 00:01:19.620 --> 00:01:26.019 the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory 15 00:01:26.180 --> 00:01:33.849 of God, the Father. Therefore, my beloved as you have always obeyed, 16 00:01:34.049 --> 00:01:38.890 so now, not only as in my presence, but much more in 17 00:01:38.049 --> 00:01:45.650 my absence. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it 18 00:01:45.849 --> 00:01:52.159 is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good 19 00:01:52.280 --> 00:01:57.319 pleasure. The grass withers in the flower fades, but the word of our 20 00:01:57.439 --> 00:02:09.990 God endures forever. You may be seated. Well, it's a privilege to 21 00:02:10.110 --> 00:02:19.180 be here this Lord's Day morning with you. The Missions Committee of Southern California 22 00:02:19.219 --> 00:02:27.139 presbytery and Arizona and in Hawaii are very interested in what's taking place in the 23 00:02:27.219 --> 00:02:30.930 churches in Arizona and in the last seven to eight to nine years or so 24 00:02:31.370 --> 00:02:38.330 God has been doing a wonderful work in Arizona and we have heard reports about 25 00:02:38.370 --> 00:02:45.960 your congregation and we have prayed for you and we have rejoiced with you and 26 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:53.280 for you that you're a worshiping congregation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and your your 27 00:02:53.360 --> 00:03:00.349 healthy and growing in grace as well as in numbers. So I'm so grateful 28 00:03:00.389 --> 00:03:07.550 to be here. We are so connected with you and this is a privilege 29 00:03:07.349 --> 00:03:13.500 to preach the word of God to you. I don't know that much about 30 00:03:13.500 --> 00:03:16.740 Arizona. Most of the time I've spend in Arizona has been probably in a 31 00:03:16.939 --> 00:03:24.020 car just driving through the desert region and thinking wow, it's hot outside, 32 00:03:25.060 --> 00:03:31.330 but there must be some nice lakes around. And I don't know if any 33 00:03:31.330 --> 00:03:38.810 of you have ever attempted to water ski, which is really fun, especially 34 00:03:38.889 --> 00:03:44.680 in a warm, dry climate like this. It's challenging. I grew up 35 00:03:44.680 --> 00:03:47.000 in a family who had a couple of different boats and we water ski. 36 00:03:47.240 --> 00:03:52.680 We did that all the time and we would invite friends to be with us 37 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:58.669 and we would teach them how to get up on those skis and literally ride 38 00:03:58.949 --> 00:04:03.069 on top of the water. Little illustration here before we actually get into the 39 00:04:03.270 --> 00:04:10.659 text. You see the skis, they could be they could be the word 40 00:04:10.699 --> 00:04:15.860 of God. Okay, picture of the skis and a better water skier ends 41 00:04:15.860 --> 00:04:18.819 up on one ski called a Slalom Ski, and then they're doing all kinds 42 00:04:18.819 --> 00:04:24.259 of other crazy things these days as well, and other contraptions. But let's 43 00:04:24.259 --> 00:04:27.810 say the skis of the word of God. Let's say the rope is faith, 44 00:04:27.930 --> 00:04:30.009 the handles and there's a rope connected to the back of the boat and 45 00:04:30.170 --> 00:04:34.810 that's faith and you're holding on. Okay, and I'll talk to you a 46 00:04:34.810 --> 00:04:39.040 little bit before I'm done here. You're all be able to go out and 47 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:44.079 go water skin. It'll be it'll be fun. And the boat and the 48 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:47.480 motor, that's the power. What we're going to call that the power of 49 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:55.069 God, the power of God unto salvation. It's all from him. And 50 00:04:55.350 --> 00:04:59.430 one thing we would always say to people as they're sitting in the water with 51 00:04:59.589 --> 00:05:02.910 their knees up to their chest and they're holding the handles or the handle and 52 00:05:03.029 --> 00:05:09.540 it's going between their skis. We say this to every person. Don't try 53 00:05:09.620 --> 00:05:15.300 to pull yourself up. Let the boat, that the motor, do the 54 00:05:15.459 --> 00:05:20.769 work and pull you up. You cannot pull yourself up. And almost invariably, 55 00:05:21.410 --> 00:05:25.889 whoever tried it for the first time, as soon as they started coming 56 00:05:25.930 --> 00:05:27.970 up, up, up, a little bit out of the water, they 57 00:05:28.009 --> 00:05:30.889 would do what they would pull themselves up with the rope and the skis would 58 00:05:30.889 --> 00:05:36.879 go this way and they go backwards. You know, splash. That's what 59 00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:42.680 we try to do in the Christian life. We try to pull ourselves up, 60 00:05:44.319 --> 00:05:48.360 we try to become the power. But no, you can't stand on 61 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:51.709 the water. You see the skis, the word of God is what you 62 00:05:51.790 --> 00:05:57.230 must stand on as a Christian each and every day. You can't pull yourself 63 00:05:57.269 --> 00:06:00.230 up by faith. We hold on to the Lord, we trust in the 64 00:06:00.350 --> 00:06:03.939 Lord, we rely on the Lord, but he's the one who gets us 65 00:06:03.980 --> 00:06:08.579 up and he's the one who helps us to live a different life from the 66 00:06:08.660 --> 00:06:13.100 culture around us. We're actually standing on the water, sliding along, and 67 00:06:13.180 --> 00:06:15.579 I'll tell you, it's a lot of fun and if you fall, you 68 00:06:15.699 --> 00:06:20.689 just fallen into water and you get back up again. I wish the Christian 69 00:06:20.810 --> 00:06:28.129 life were that easy and that fun all the time. We know it's not 70 00:06:29.329 --> 00:06:33.839 and it's a life of of this my responsibility and what I ought to do 71 00:06:34.319 --> 00:06:39.480 and God's sovereignty and what he's doing. And there's a connection here. And 72 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:46.519 how many times that we talked about the Christian life and sanctification and tried to 73 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:48.910 figure that out and try to put that together. I know as a pastor, 74 00:06:48.990 --> 00:06:55.670 I've tried to explain that to people and I keep working at it because 75 00:06:55.709 --> 00:07:00.990 I can't fully explain it. Maybe Pastor Chelpka here can. You can go 76 00:07:00.069 --> 00:07:03.579 to him after the service let him explain it to you. But where does 77 00:07:03.699 --> 00:07:10.459 responsibility end, so to speak, and sovereignty began, or vice versa? 78 00:07:11.139 --> 00:07:15.170 What's the connection? Will Paul puts them here side by side in our text 79 00:07:16.370 --> 00:07:20.050 and he just states them, he doesn't explain. Well, here's how it 80 00:07:20.089 --> 00:07:27.170 works. So we're going to walk through this together and I hope when you 81 00:07:27.250 --> 00:07:30.319 leave here today that you're going to take these verses with you and ponder them 82 00:07:30.360 --> 00:07:36.839 in your minds and and put into practice what we're learning here. My proposition 83 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:43.240 statement is this because of Christ finish work on the cross, and that's, 84 00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:48.709 brothers and sisters, that's everything. Because of his finished work on the cross, 85 00:07:49.589 --> 00:07:54.910 we work at the Christian life. That's the word that Paul uses. 86 00:07:55.069 --> 00:08:05.939 We Work Resting in Christ's continued work in us, and so everything is based 87 00:08:05.980 --> 00:08:09.980 on his finished work on the cross. Yet we as Christians, we work, 88 00:08:09.459 --> 00:08:16.930 we strive, and yet we do it at the same time resting in 89 00:08:16.129 --> 00:08:22.449 Christ continued work within us, resting, trusting in the spirit of Christ to 90 00:08:22.529 --> 00:08:26.649 do his work in and through us. And we don't do it by feelings, 91 00:08:26.360 --> 00:08:31.279 we do it by faith. Remember, you're standing on those water skis, 92 00:08:31.319 --> 00:08:35.600 you're standing on the word of God and that's the only way you can 93 00:08:35.720 --> 00:08:41.950 live the Christian life. Now I read that previous paragraph for you because Paul 94 00:08:43.110 --> 00:08:48.230 Notice that word in verse twelve. He says, therefore, and we've all 95 00:08:48.269 --> 00:08:50.909 been taught. When you see the word, therefore, where, you ask 96 00:08:50.950 --> 00:08:54.389 yourself, what's it there for? What's he doing? What has preceded it? 97 00:08:56.179 --> 00:09:01.419 Because he's making a point. He's now giving us some application and exhortation 98 00:09:01.659 --> 00:09:05.419 here, after we've seen the doctrine and the doctrine. One of the most 99 00:09:05.460 --> 00:09:11.850 sublime paragraphs in the whole New Testament is what precedes verse twelve. We see 100 00:09:13.090 --> 00:09:18.129 Jesus there, the glorified son of God, coming down into this world, 101 00:09:18.409 --> 00:09:26.879 taking on human flesh, incarnation. We see complete divine and human nature's brought 102 00:09:26.960 --> 00:09:33.120 together in the person of the Christ, in one person. We see here 103 00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:41.309 in this text his sacrificial death and, by implication, his resurrection. We 104 00:09:41.629 --> 00:09:46.110 read about his ascension and his glorification and his rule. That whole text talks 105 00:09:46.149 --> 00:09:52.860 about that Jesus Christ and what he has accomplished. Brothers and sisters, is 106 00:09:52.100 --> 00:09:56.820 the basis for you not only to get to heaven, but it's the basis 107 00:09:56.940 --> 00:10:01.299 for you living your Christian life every single day. We are to live in 108 00:10:01.659 --> 00:10:07.570 the Gospel, rejoicing in that and looking to Jesus at all times. Our 109 00:10:07.769 --> 00:10:13.330 tendency is to hear a sermon and to remember what, you got to do 110 00:10:13.450 --> 00:10:16.970 this and you should do that and should do that. We remember those things, 111 00:10:18.009 --> 00:10:20.639 we make our list and then we, if we're sincere, we try 112 00:10:20.679 --> 00:10:24.759 to do it and we take our eyes off of the Lord, you see, 113 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:33.000 and we try to pull ourselves up and then we fall. Sometimes it's 114 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:41.909 very discouraging. In the broader context, here, Philippians won six it's God 115 00:10:41.629 --> 00:10:46.669 is the one who has started the work in US and, Paul says, 116 00:10:46.669 --> 00:10:50.500 I'm confident that the one who started it is going to complete until the day 117 00:10:50.539 --> 00:10:54.860 of Christ, Jesus. So underneath us, all around us, guiding us, 118 00:10:54.179 --> 00:11:00.019 is the Living God, intimately involved in your daily walk and in every 119 00:11:00.179 --> 00:11:03.850 detail of your life, and I believe that, and take that literally. 120 00:11:05.610 --> 00:11:11.009 Doctrine leads to life. I respond to God's Word in obedience. Why? 121 00:11:11.049 --> 00:11:16.370 Why do you want to obey? Well, I hope your answer is because 122 00:11:16.450 --> 00:11:24.799 Jesus Christ has earned my salvation. I live my life motivated by gratitude and 123 00:11:26.600 --> 00:11:30.639 praise and Thanksgiving. Every day. I want to live for him, I 124 00:11:30.759 --> 00:11:35.429 want to please him, I want people to see the life of Christ in 125 00:11:35.549 --> 00:11:43.509 and through me, and so I follow hard after him. The response to 126 00:11:43.590 --> 00:11:50.779 the doctrine work is the first point. Work. We are responsible for our 127 00:11:50.860 --> 00:11:56.220 every thought, word and deed, and God doesn't let us off the hook. 128 00:11:58.019 --> 00:12:01.370 We're responsible for every thought and word. Indeed, we're going to take 129 00:12:01.409 --> 00:12:07.250 every thought captive. We are. God is going to hold us accountable for 130 00:12:07.330 --> 00:12:13.330 every word that we speak and every decision that we make, and that's overwhelming 131 00:12:13.409 --> 00:12:18.919 if you are sincerely wanting to please the Lord. And notice what Paul says. 132 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:22.639 So he says, therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, 133 00:12:22.840 --> 00:12:26.519 so now, not only as in my presence, but much more in 134 00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:31.190 my absence. He's in prison right now in Rome. Wants to be there, 135 00:12:31.350 --> 00:12:33.990 can't be there, I'm not there. You've done well when I've been 136 00:12:35.110 --> 00:12:41.110 with you. Do even better when I'm not with you. He wrote to 137 00:12:41.190 --> 00:12:46.340 the Thessalonians. The reports about you, your faith and your hope and your 138 00:12:46.419 --> 00:12:50.379 love and your witness are just marvelous. They're very good. And then he 139 00:12:50.419 --> 00:12:56.139 said something else. He said, Excel still more. You're doing well, 140 00:12:58.220 --> 00:13:03.929 do better, keep growing, keep pursuing the Lord. And so here he 141 00:13:05.970 --> 00:13:13.039 gives us our statement. Work out your salvation now. What does that mean? 142 00:13:13.159 --> 00:13:18.200 Let's be very clear, because if you misunderstand this, you're going to 143 00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:26.039 be in great, great trouble. He doesn't say work for your salvation. 144 00:13:26.149 --> 00:13:31.710 He doesn't say work toward your salvation. If you keep working, at some 145 00:13:31.789 --> 00:13:35.509 point you're going to get ahold of it and you're going to get some salvation. 146 00:13:35.629 --> 00:13:43.740 Or work at your salvation. He says work it out. Why? 147 00:13:43.740 --> 00:13:52.179 Because God has declared you already saved. John Sixteen, you believed on the 148 00:13:52.259 --> 00:13:56.809 Lord. You have eternal life. That's the Gospel, that's the good news. 149 00:13:56.929 --> 00:14:00.889 All I have to do is take a hold of that rope, so 150 00:14:01.049 --> 00:14:07.090 to speak. All illustrations fail in some way. God will pull me up. 151 00:14:07.250 --> 00:14:11.759 God will save me, and he has done that through his blessed son, 152 00:14:11.879 --> 00:14:16.519 the Lord Jesus Christ. Live it out now, Paul says. Demonstrate 153 00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:22.360 it, prove that good, acceptable and perfect will of God. I know 154 00:14:22.440 --> 00:14:26.950 your pastor's been in Romans, I think Romans twelve, recently. I don't 155 00:14:26.950 --> 00:14:28.990 know if you're still there, but the beginning of the chapter, that verse, 156 00:14:30.149 --> 00:14:35.070 comes out of Romans twelve to a living demonstration of the marvelous will of 157 00:14:35.269 --> 00:14:43.019 God. Justification. Let's just underland that for just a moment. We're looking 158 00:14:43.059 --> 00:14:48.139 at the doctrine of sank vacation, but justification is is what? Well, 159 00:14:48.539 --> 00:14:56.330 it's declaration. God, the Holy Judge, declares a sinner just righteous in 160 00:14:56.490 --> 00:15:03.370 his sight because of the imputed that the righteousness of Christ given to that sinner, 161 00:15:03.570 --> 00:15:07.519 received by faith alone. He forgives all of your sins and he gives 162 00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:11.360 you, as a free gift, the righteousness of Jesus Christ, all of 163 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:18.600 it. You stand before God, perfect, positionally perfect before the Holy God, 164 00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:22.870 and that's the only way we could ever have fellowship with God and walk 165 00:15:24.029 --> 00:15:26.669 before him and pray to him and enter into the holy of holies is because 166 00:15:26.710 --> 00:15:31.789 we are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and that's an act of 167 00:15:31.950 --> 00:15:39.059 God. And it happens like that the moment of faith. It's a declaration, 168 00:15:39.460 --> 00:15:46.220 but sanctification is a life, and that's a Paul is talking about in 169 00:15:46.379 --> 00:15:54.649 our text today. So work, bringing to full completion, finish the job, 170 00:15:54.889 --> 00:15:58.090 so to speak, and will never finish the job and will never come 171 00:15:58.169 --> 00:16:02.690 to full completion this side of glory. But we have a part in this 172 00:16:03.370 --> 00:16:11.480 sanctification process. We do. We're responsible to get up and to work, 173 00:16:11.559 --> 00:16:18.990 as Paul Puts It, and he tells us that we enter into this with 174 00:16:18.950 --> 00:16:29.190 what how's he describe it there. He describes it with fear and trembling. 175 00:16:32.110 --> 00:16:34.419 You know, the world says you got to be confident and you can never 176 00:16:34.539 --> 00:16:38.539 demonstrate a weakness. You, you're always confident, you're on top of things, 177 00:16:38.779 --> 00:16:42.179 you can do it. It's all about you, it's all in you. 178 00:16:44.620 --> 00:16:48.129 And Paul says here, this work is a work you must do, 179 00:16:48.929 --> 00:16:56.129 but you must enter into it with fear and trembling, because any any honest 180 00:16:56.529 --> 00:17:03.799 Christian, will realize what, I can't do it. How many times if 181 00:17:03.799 --> 00:17:07.079 I said I'm going to control my speech or, as we heard a little 182 00:17:07.079 --> 00:17:11.559 while ago, my anger, and it wells up again inside me? How 183 00:17:11.640 --> 00:17:17.869 convicting is that? And so it's a fear and trembling that we say, 184 00:17:17.990 --> 00:17:21.390 okay, Lord, I'm going to step out and live this Christian life, 185 00:17:21.589 --> 00:17:26.950 but I cannot do it and I'm looking to you for everything. That's the 186 00:17:26.069 --> 00:17:32.180 best place to start, not self confidence, but confidence in the Lord Jesus 187 00:17:32.220 --> 00:17:37.660 Christ and his faithfulness. He started the work, he's working the work and 188 00:17:37.740 --> 00:17:41.140 he will complete the work, and that's your hope and mind. You see, 189 00:17:41.700 --> 00:17:45.609 to live this out in the fear of God is to want to please 190 00:17:45.690 --> 00:17:52.170 God above all else. I want my life and my words to honor the 191 00:17:52.289 --> 00:17:59.039 Lord, and so I'm very serious about my Christian life and growing in grace. 192 00:18:00.359 --> 00:18:07.200 So what does this working look like? William ASS plumber rights. It 193 00:18:07.400 --> 00:18:14.150 is easy for us to backslide from God. We go astray from the womb, 194 00:18:14.309 --> 00:18:19.470 speaking lies. Is as natural for us to do wrong as for the 195 00:18:19.589 --> 00:18:29.180 sparks to assent in our voyage Er heavenward, wind and tied are against us. 196 00:18:30.660 --> 00:18:36.900 If we do nothing to overcome their action, they will carry us away. 197 00:18:37.700 --> 00:18:44.250 We can go to hell without intending to do so, without putting forth 198 00:18:44.289 --> 00:18:51.049 any efforts to that effect. But to go to heaven requires prayer, Self, 199 00:18:51.210 --> 00:18:59.680 denial, vigilance, violence, running, wrestling, fighting, and I 200 00:18:59.720 --> 00:19:06.799 would add Paul's word here, working. I hope you understand what he's saying. 201 00:19:07.000 --> 00:19:11.950 He's not saying that you put out your best effort because you're going to 202 00:19:11.109 --> 00:19:15.950 earn your way into heaven. That's not the point. Christ has earned our 203 00:19:15.029 --> 00:19:22.869 way into heaven. But, brothers and sisters, we cannot let go and 204 00:19:22.029 --> 00:19:29.339 just let God. I've been involved in a counseling situation. That's a very 205 00:19:29.500 --> 00:19:37.940 troublesome situation, and one party has that attitude. I will love my husband, 206 00:19:37.019 --> 00:19:41.769 when God does his work in me, when he gives me that feeling 207 00:19:41.809 --> 00:19:45.650 and when he when he causes me to do something. Is that correct? 208 00:19:48.170 --> 00:19:52.329 And so that person is waiting for some kind of feeling experience. She's waiting 209 00:19:52.410 --> 00:20:00.400 for God to do something that God commands her to be doing. Some basic 210 00:20:00.519 --> 00:20:04.519 points. What this Christian life looks like, what we're involved in, and 211 00:20:04.680 --> 00:20:10.309 it's all. It's all by the grace of God, every step, everything 212 00:20:10.349 --> 00:20:14.029 we do. You're here by the grace of God. Now, some of 213 00:20:14.069 --> 00:20:21.619 you maybe came because you were brought here. You're only that big, but 214 00:20:21.740 --> 00:20:26.180 I believe that you're here because God has enabled you to come here by His 215 00:20:26.339 --> 00:20:30.579 grace. You See. Okay, some simple points here. Listen to this 216 00:20:32.059 --> 00:20:37.890 before point number two. It is a life of putting off the old and 217 00:20:37.490 --> 00:20:42.730 putting on the new, putting on Christ. That's what the Christian life is. 218 00:20:42.849 --> 00:20:49.720 That's what this walk is. It's putting out the garbage, as the 219 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:53.200 spirit of God, through the word, reveals to me. It's putting it 220 00:20:53.279 --> 00:20:57.200 off, it's acknowledging it. That's why we have confession of sin in the 221 00:20:57.279 --> 00:21:03.200 early part of our service services, because we know we're sinners and we need 222 00:21:03.240 --> 00:21:07.029 the grace of God. It's putting on Christ, and that's exactly what Paul 223 00:21:07.150 --> 00:21:11.470 saying in Philippians, chapter three, verse seven. Whatever gain I had I 224 00:21:11.630 --> 00:21:14.950 counted as loss for the sake of Christ, and there's a list of seven 225 00:21:14.990 --> 00:21:18.059 different things there previous to that verse that Paul Says I did this and I 226 00:21:18.099 --> 00:21:23.660 did that and I was this and I was incredible, and that's that's garbage 227 00:21:23.779 --> 00:21:29.900 to me. Now that's and I'm continually putting off and putting on is in 228 00:21:30.180 --> 00:21:34.289 a verse ten, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection 229 00:21:34.289 --> 00:21:40.329 and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. That's this 230 00:21:40.529 --> 00:21:45.890 constant putting on, this seeking after the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the effort 231 00:21:47.130 --> 00:21:51.759 that God gives us the grace to put out. Secondly, it's a life 232 00:21:52.039 --> 00:21:57.079 of prayer and the word of God. Now it's a life of that. 233 00:21:59.960 --> 00:22:03.549 It's a daily life of that, or it ought to be, and that's 234 00:22:03.589 --> 00:22:07.109 a discipline that we need to put fur it out into. Probably one of 235 00:22:07.150 --> 00:22:14.509 the questions that when I visit people in my carregation they're kind of hating to 236 00:22:14.670 --> 00:22:18.059 hear is talking about their walk with the Lord and how they're doing in the 237 00:22:18.140 --> 00:22:23.700 reading of the scriptures, and so often do I hear well, I know 238 00:22:23.819 --> 00:22:30.049 I should do that and I intend to do better, but it's not happening 239 00:22:30.130 --> 00:22:34.170 right now. And you know it's not going to happen unless we have a 240 00:22:34.329 --> 00:22:40.410 discipline and a plan and a focus and we keep committing it to God and 241 00:22:41.049 --> 00:22:48.079 we start and it takes sweat, it takes effort, to take sacrifice, 242 00:22:48.119 --> 00:22:52.079 it takes okay, I'm not going to watch TV, I'm going to read 243 00:22:52.119 --> 00:22:56.440 the word for a bit. I'll watch TV, but the word comes first. 244 00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:02.029 You see, prayer comes first. This book of the law shall not 245 00:23:02.190 --> 00:23:06.029 depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, 246 00:23:06.230 --> 00:23:08.390 so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in 247 00:23:08.509 --> 00:23:11.900 it, for then you will make your way prosperous. Then you will have 248 00:23:12.220 --> 00:23:18.299 good success. God said that to Joshua before Joshua went into the promised land. 249 00:23:18.619 --> 00:23:22.619 What do I need to know from you, Lord? How are the 250 00:23:22.740 --> 00:23:27.809 armies doing? That we got enough swords and and you know all the stuff 251 00:23:27.970 --> 00:23:32.329 of war, because that's what we're in into in God says. Listen, 252 00:23:32.569 --> 00:23:34.410 I want you to meditate on the word of God. I want it to 253 00:23:34.450 --> 00:23:40.049 become a part of your thoughts and words and deeds, Joshua, then you'll 254 00:23:40.089 --> 00:23:42.640 have success. We tend to put the word of God in prayer over here. 255 00:23:44.200 --> 00:23:47.119 We have a lot of things we have to get done and we tack 256 00:23:47.240 --> 00:23:52.839 that on whenever we can instead of making that the most important priority of my 257 00:23:53.079 --> 00:24:00.430 life is that intimate relationship with the Lord. And so what do we do 258 00:24:00.670 --> 00:24:04.230 when we don't have a habit of doing it? We keep bringing it to 259 00:24:04.269 --> 00:24:11.059 the Lord. He knows that, you see, he understands. He's not 260 00:24:11.460 --> 00:24:17.779 upset with us. He wants us to love him and to pursue him and 261 00:24:17.980 --> 00:24:21.619 he will do the same with us and he'll keep doing it even when we're 262 00:24:21.660 --> 00:24:25.650 not faithful. And so it's not a big guilt trip. Of all I 263 00:24:25.809 --> 00:24:30.410 have to do this. When you begin to learn and delight in those intimate 264 00:24:30.450 --> 00:24:34.690 times with him, it will be something you get to do, it'll be 265 00:24:34.769 --> 00:24:44.440 something you look forward to doing. Oh, I've got so many scriptures here, 266 00:24:44.519 --> 00:24:47.799 but I how long do you preach? Normally, about an hour and 267 00:24:47.880 --> 00:24:55.069 a half or so. Okay, Super, okay, wow, I'm going 268 00:24:55.109 --> 00:25:00.150 to go home and tell the people in my congregation what you do. Thirdly, 269 00:25:00.309 --> 00:25:07.029 and briefly, it's a life of taking every thought captive. You Say 270 00:25:07.109 --> 00:25:10.700 I am so distracted in my prayer life. Often Times I don't know how 271 00:25:10.700 --> 00:25:12.619 you are, but I think of something and I start praying about it and 272 00:25:14.019 --> 00:25:18.220 wow, thoughts well up and I'm all over here and I wake up and 273 00:25:18.380 --> 00:25:22.410 I say, what are you doing over there, mark? Well, I 274 00:25:22.730 --> 00:25:26.009 don't know. I don't know how I got here. Maybe that's just me. 275 00:25:26.410 --> 00:25:32.049 You never have trouble and wandering mind during prayer. But we're called to 276 00:25:32.170 --> 00:25:37.880 take every thought captive. Second Corinthians ten five, we're called to watch over 277 00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:44.599 our hearts with all diligence, for from the heart flow forth the very issues, 278 00:25:44.839 --> 00:25:49.000 the springs of life. The condition of your heart will determine that the 279 00:25:49.150 --> 00:25:55.630 joy and the condition of your life. And so if your countenance is down 280 00:25:55.789 --> 00:26:02.430 and you're sad or angry or troubled with lust or worry or something, it's 281 00:26:02.509 --> 00:26:06.579 because there's something wrong with the condition of your heart. You've not been watching 282 00:26:06.660 --> 00:26:11.299 over it. And what I've found in proverbs for twenty three reading that in 283 00:26:11.380 --> 00:26:15.900 the context, I keep coming to this Lord. My heart just keeps wanting 284 00:26:15.900 --> 00:26:22.170 to go all over the place. I cannot do this. And he's and 285 00:26:22.289 --> 00:26:26.410 he says to me, you're right, don't try to pull yourself up. 286 00:26:26.130 --> 00:26:30.930 Hold on to me, hold on to the handles, hold on to the 287 00:26:30.970 --> 00:26:37.039 rope. The power is mine, the enabling is mine. I want you 288 00:26:37.160 --> 00:26:41.920 to acknowledge that and stop striving and look to me. And then, when 289 00:26:41.960 --> 00:26:45.519 you take the next step, because it's you taken it, he's not going 290 00:26:45.559 --> 00:26:48.190 to take it for you. Your eyes are on him, you're yielded to 291 00:26:48.230 --> 00:26:55.269 him, you're trusting in him. Fourthly, it's an ongoing process of killing 292 00:26:55.470 --> 00:27:02.980 sin and constant discipline unto Godliness, this putting off, putting on. The 293 00:27:03.140 --> 00:27:08.380 puritans called it mortification, the killing of sin. We can't just dabble a 294 00:27:08.380 --> 00:27:11.299 little bit with sin and say, Oh, I'm sorry, we must come 295 00:27:11.380 --> 00:27:15.769 to hate our sins and we want them to be dead, and yet we 296 00:27:15.890 --> 00:27:23.130 know they're going to be with US until glory. This internal fight and struggle 297 00:27:23.809 --> 00:27:29.289 is going to continue until the Lord takes you to glory. Paul says in 298 00:27:29.410 --> 00:27:32.680 Colossians three five. Put to death. Therefore, what is earthly in you, 299 00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:38.559 sexual immorality and purity, passion, evil desire and covetousness, which is 300 00:27:38.680 --> 00:27:44.390 idolatry. And he goes on in the list. And yet, brothers and 301 00:27:44.509 --> 00:27:48.869 sisters, I can sincerely look at that and I stumble right and left, 302 00:27:48.069 --> 00:27:52.470 unless I am yielded to him, unless I am saying, Lord, I 303 00:27:52.549 --> 00:27:56.390 can't do this, but I want to do it so much, and you 304 00:27:56.470 --> 00:28:00.900 know that want to is a work of grace within your heart. And maybe 305 00:28:00.940 --> 00:28:03.980 you're saying my heart so cold, I don't even want to. Then you 306 00:28:04.059 --> 00:28:14.970 need to bring that to him and he will change that attitude. It is 307 00:28:15.049 --> 00:28:21.769 a discipline process and it is a training process. So how did you learn 308 00:28:21.930 --> 00:28:25.329 to do the things that you do in your daily life? You know that 309 00:28:25.490 --> 00:28:30.920 the habits of daily living, because you do not go into most of those 310 00:28:30.759 --> 00:28:36.519 exercises thinking, okay, now I'm going to take the cap off the top 311 00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:40.880 of the toothpaste tube and okay, next step here, got to get it. 312 00:28:41.509 --> 00:28:45.230 You don't do that. You're doing other things, you're thinking about other 313 00:28:45.349 --> 00:28:48.990 things. It's a habit, it's a part of your life. And Sin 314 00:28:48.230 --> 00:28:53.230 is that way as well, and so we must constantly be recognize it and 315 00:28:53.349 --> 00:28:57.220 saying, Lord, grant me grace here to put this off, to mortify 316 00:28:57.420 --> 00:29:04.900 this, to kill this. So it's a constant discipline walking with my eyes 317 00:29:04.940 --> 00:29:10.130 upon the Lord. And then, fifthly, it's a life of seeking and 318 00:29:10.369 --> 00:29:17.730 knowing and pursuing Jesus, Christ relentlessly. And that's IT, Paul says in 319 00:29:17.849 --> 00:29:23.920 Philippians chapter three, doesn't he? Not Having not that I have already obtained 320 00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:32.559 it or I'm already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, 321 00:29:32.839 --> 00:29:40.829 because Christ, Jesus has made me his own. I forget what lies 322 00:29:40.990 --> 00:29:47.630 behind those sad times and those victories. I put them in perspective, I 323 00:29:47.750 --> 00:29:51.269 learn from them. I don't completely forget it, but I don't live with 324 00:29:51.710 --> 00:29:55.380 looking over my shoulder. I'm going to look to the Lord Jesus and I'm 325 00:29:55.460 --> 00:29:59.579 taking the next step, and the next step was my eyes on him. 326 00:30:02.460 --> 00:30:06.700 When I go through struggles, there are times in the morning, before I 327 00:30:06.779 --> 00:30:11.089 even get out of bed, I say, Lord, I just I give 328 00:30:11.130 --> 00:30:18.609 you my heart this morning I'm struggling. I'm just going to get out of 329 00:30:18.690 --> 00:30:21.009 bed, I'm going to take the next step, I'm going to do what 330 00:30:21.289 --> 00:30:25.039 I know you've called me to do and I'm trusting in you. I don't 331 00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:27.720 know how it's going to work out, but I commit it to you. 332 00:30:29.839 --> 00:30:33.119 I commit this putting off to you. I commit taking every thought captive to 333 00:30:33.200 --> 00:30:37.670 you. I commit a life of prayer in the word to you and this 334 00:30:37.869 --> 00:30:41.150 process of killing sin. I'm going to keep committing it to you. I 335 00:30:42.069 --> 00:30:48.190 want victory today, I commit it to you. I'm going to seek you, 336 00:30:48.670 --> 00:30:51.940 I want to know you, I want to be like you, I 337 00:30:52.140 --> 00:31:00.779 want the power that is yours in my life. More briefly, a second 338 00:31:00.859 --> 00:31:04.690 mate, your point, and that's what Paul makes in our passage here. 339 00:31:06.130 --> 00:31:11.490 It's rest. So it's work and it's rest. Every thought, word indeed 340 00:31:11.650 --> 00:31:18.880 that pleases the Lord Is Accomplished by his sovereign grace. In me, everyone, 341 00:31:19.240 --> 00:31:23.000 I could never take one step in my sanctification in the right direction. 342 00:31:23.039 --> 00:31:30.319 I have to yield and trust and rely upon him every single step of the 343 00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:33.230 way. And so when I look back on my life, I say I 344 00:31:33.430 --> 00:31:37.230 cannot believe the amazing grace of God and all that I went through, how 345 00:31:37.509 --> 00:31:41.349 a faithful he was, how kind he was, how many times he picked 346 00:31:41.390 --> 00:31:45.470 me back up and drew me to himself. It was a life lived by 347 00:31:45.509 --> 00:31:49.980 the grace of God and I give him all the honor and the glory. 348 00:31:51.059 --> 00:31:53.700 You see, and it's a life designed for the glory of God and for 349 00:31:53.779 --> 00:32:00.140 the good of his beloved people. You See, I work and yet at 350 00:32:00.180 --> 00:32:07.289 the same time I rest in him, same time knowing that apart from him, 351 00:32:07.569 --> 00:32:10.529 as Jesus tells us, I can do nothing. So, in fear 352 00:32:10.650 --> 00:32:15.279 and trembling, I trust he is working out his will in my life. 353 00:32:16.160 --> 00:32:21.359 Does that mean I always understand it? I always know where I am going? 354 00:32:21.680 --> 00:32:23.839 I always know what the Providence of God means? Know most of the 355 00:32:23.880 --> 00:32:29.839 time I don't. But it's a walk of faith. It's faith that pleases 356 00:32:29.960 --> 00:32:35.190 God, and he doesn't always tell us what he's doing exactly and why he's 357 00:32:35.230 --> 00:32:38.549 doing it and when he's doing it and so on, and that pleases him. 358 00:32:43.029 --> 00:32:47.980 You know, we can fall so readily and I would rather have you 359 00:32:49.220 --> 00:32:55.180 leaning more completely this morning on on His grace and his power yielded to him, 360 00:32:55.660 --> 00:33:00.210 then saying I've got a list now, I wrote it down and I'm 361 00:33:00.210 --> 00:33:05.450 going to do these five points. That concerns me because you, like myself, 362 00:33:05.569 --> 00:33:07.650 will fall flat on your face if it's here's what I'm going to do. 363 00:33:08.210 --> 00:33:13.400 It's on me. I want you to say, by the grace of 364 00:33:13.559 --> 00:33:17.039 God, I will do these things. It's on him. My eyes are 365 00:33:17.119 --> 00:33:21.720 on you, Lord, but here's what happens in the Christian life. I 366 00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:27.230 take this out of Joel Beeky's book. Getting back into the race is the 367 00:33:27.349 --> 00:33:31.750 title. It's on the subject of backsliding. He says we can fall into 368 00:33:31.829 --> 00:33:37.869 ruts in the Christian life. There can be coldness in prayer. We don't 369 00:33:37.869 --> 00:33:43.859 even notice it because we're reform presbyterians. We know how to pray, we 370 00:33:44.019 --> 00:33:47.420 can pray impressive prayers, but our hearts don't have to be in them. 371 00:33:49.579 --> 00:33:53.900 Coldness and prayer in difference under the word. I've heard of million sermons. 372 00:33:55.289 --> 00:34:00.890 I'm good at sitting there and having a pastor think I'm awake and I'm listening 373 00:34:00.930 --> 00:34:07.570 to him when I'm a million miles away growing inner corruptions. There are thoughts 374 00:34:07.889 --> 00:34:15.519 and desires and imaginations that are evil and they are wicked and and I'm having 375 00:34:15.559 --> 00:34:22.400 more trouble with them. The love of the world, declining love for believers, 376 00:34:22.320 --> 00:34:29.429 a coldness toward my brothers and sisters and man centered hopes, he writes. 377 00:34:30.349 --> 00:34:35.429 Man Center hopes. My heart and my affections are are completely on this 378 00:34:35.869 --> 00:34:38.739 life and instead of living for glory and for Heaven, with the principles of 379 00:34:38.900 --> 00:34:47.139 Heaven, I'm living for earth, with the principles of Earth. Notice what 380 00:34:47.820 --> 00:34:51.780 the passage says, and let's take a hold of it. Don't take one 381 00:34:51.860 --> 00:34:55.809 verse out of here, out of context. It says that God works in 382 00:34:57.010 --> 00:35:04.730 us. He begun the work, he continues the work, he will finish 383 00:35:04.730 --> 00:35:12.639 the work. In Effesians, Chapter two, turn a couple pages to the 384 00:35:12.679 --> 00:35:16.400 left. There were dead. We're under the dominion of the flesh or under 385 00:35:16.440 --> 00:35:21.550 the dominion of Saintan. There where children of Wrath and by grace, he 386 00:35:21.670 --> 00:35:27.469 says, sess there's not a work. There complete mercy and Grace and sovereign 387 00:35:27.590 --> 00:35:30.190 love, and we no effusions. To eight nine. That's exactly what it 388 00:35:30.349 --> 00:35:35.670 says. Even the very faith that I exercise, the ability to hold on 389 00:35:35.860 --> 00:35:38.300 to the rope, you see, is given me by Almighty God. I 390 00:35:38.380 --> 00:35:43.579 don't even have that kind of ability. The faith is a gift. And 391 00:35:43.940 --> 00:35:47.940 but in verse ten, he says where we are his workmanship, created in 392 00:35:47.980 --> 00:35:52.690 Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 393 00:35:52.849 --> 00:35:57.289 You see, it's all been ordained. It's not a second thought with 394 00:35:57.449 --> 00:36:01.610 God. We are his workmanship. He is working within your life. Nothing 395 00:36:01.690 --> 00:36:09.000 comes by chance, nothing is a misstep by God. We don't hear oops. 396 00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:15.960 Oh did God say that? I'm in trouble. No, it's perfect. 397 00:36:16.039 --> 00:36:23.829 He's begun the work and he will continue that work. If you're taken 398 00:36:23.909 --> 00:36:30.869 note, read Hebrews Thirteen, twenty and twenty one, that great benediction. 399 00:36:31.269 --> 00:36:36.780 It says God is the one who's equipping us, and so on. God 400 00:36:36.900 --> 00:36:40.619 works in us, Paul writes, both to will, he says. In 401 00:36:40.739 --> 00:36:46.730 other words, God gives us the desire. We walk by faith and God 402 00:36:46.849 --> 00:36:52.369 gives us the desire and he will cause that desire to grow and to flourish. 403 00:36:57.210 --> 00:37:01.400 Ezra was a pagan where in the book of Ezrah, Sir Cyrus was 404 00:37:01.519 --> 00:37:06.440 a pagan king, and you read the first chapter. God It's now the 405 00:37:06.559 --> 00:37:09.320 seventy years are up and God is going to bring his people back into the 406 00:37:09.360 --> 00:37:14.440 land. And what does he do? He moves in the heart of this 407 00:37:14.639 --> 00:37:17.829 Pagan King and the and the King opens everything up and tells the people of 408 00:37:17.949 --> 00:37:21.989 God, take what you will and what you want, and whoever wants to 409 00:37:22.070 --> 00:37:25.429 go go. and Cyrus, this pagan king, is a tool in the 410 00:37:25.510 --> 00:37:29.869 hands of God. God can work in the heart of a pagan king. 411 00:37:29.949 --> 00:37:32.619 How much more does he work in the hearts of his children, with the 412 00:37:32.659 --> 00:37:37.579 very spirit of God residing within us. The king's heart is a stream of 413 00:37:37.699 --> 00:37:42.460 water. In the hand of the Lord, he turns it wherever he will. 414 00:37:44.059 --> 00:37:49.090 So God works in us both to will, to desire and notice, 415 00:37:49.289 --> 00:37:59.360 it says, to work or to do. And after you have suffered a 416 00:37:59.360 --> 00:38:01.320 little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his 417 00:38:01.480 --> 00:38:10.960 eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you. 418 00:38:12.679 --> 00:38:19.909 That's sovereign grace. That's what we rely upon for is Peter Ten. 419 00:38:21.429 --> 00:38:23.909 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you 420 00:38:24.030 --> 00:38:29.900 blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, writes jude. In 421 00:38:29.980 --> 00:38:34.860 the Twenty Fourth Verse, The Apostle Paul underlines at all, he says, 422 00:38:34.900 --> 00:38:37.460 but by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace 423 00:38:37.579 --> 00:38:42.929 toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than 424 00:38:43.010 --> 00:38:47.289 any of them. See Pulls not afraid to talk about working hard. But 425 00:38:47.489 --> 00:38:53.929 notice how he ends it, though. It was not I but the grace 426 00:38:54.250 --> 00:39:00.159 of God that is with me. And so, brothers and sisters, if 427 00:39:00.159 --> 00:39:06.840 you understand what Paul's saying here in Philippians, you will continually be yielding, 428 00:39:07.199 --> 00:39:12.230 but you will be working, you'll you'll have a plan and you'll have a 429 00:39:12.429 --> 00:39:15.070 gender and you will go to work as you yield to the Lord and trust 430 00:39:15.150 --> 00:39:20.630 in him and rely on him to to enable you to do that work. 431 00:39:21.389 --> 00:39:22.949 And at the end of the day, if things are going well, you 432 00:39:22.989 --> 00:39:30.860 will say it's all by the grace of God. Notice the final application here. 433 00:39:31.420 --> 00:39:39.809 It's all for his good pleasure. You ever thought of that, that 434 00:39:40.050 --> 00:39:47.329 God takes pleasure in you? Oftentimes we're so under the pile with the stuff 435 00:39:47.369 --> 00:39:52.199 of life that thought never enters our minds that God actually delights in his how 436 00:39:52.239 --> 00:39:59.800 could he delight in me, such a failure? But he knows every thought 437 00:39:59.920 --> 00:40:02.159 of your heart, he knows everything you have done, he knows everything you 438 00:40:02.239 --> 00:40:05.800 should have done and you haven't done, and so on and so forth. 439 00:40:06.039 --> 00:40:09.949 He knows US intimately. Then it says here it's for his good pleasure, 440 00:40:12.030 --> 00:40:16.750 but the focus of his good pleasure it's the people of God, his Covenant 441 00:40:16.789 --> 00:40:25.460 Children. He's working in us. What is a pleasure to him? Because 442 00:40:25.460 --> 00:40:32.179 we are a pleasure to him. Zeph and IA is a song. There' 443 00:40:32.219 --> 00:40:37.969 Zeph and I a little minor prophet three hundred and seventeen. At the end 444 00:40:37.010 --> 00:40:47.409 of that little minor prophet book he says he will rejoice over you with gladness, 445 00:40:49.730 --> 00:40:53.280 with joy, with singing. There's different translations and there's a song, 446 00:40:53.400 --> 00:41:00.800 there's a melody that I won't sing it right now. I sing it when 447 00:41:00.840 --> 00:41:08.070 I'm alone and I enjoy it. God rejoicing over us with gladness, singing, 448 00:41:08.670 --> 00:41:14.630 delighting in his people, you see. So when you're working, it's 449 00:41:14.670 --> 00:41:19.099 a work of joy and happiness and purpose and focus, because you're working for 450 00:41:19.219 --> 00:41:22.340 Almighty God, you're Living Unto Almighty God and you know that he delights in 451 00:41:22.460 --> 00:41:29.380 your life. Why? Because you're in Christ and you stand righteous before him 452 00:41:29.380 --> 00:41:34.730 in Christ. And so, brothers and sisters, work as if it all 453 00:41:34.969 --> 00:41:37.610 depended on you, and don't give up that work. It is a good 454 00:41:37.650 --> 00:41:45.650 work in the Lord, but trust and rest, relying upon the ongoing work 455 00:41:45.690 --> 00:41:50.800 of Christ within you and for you, and he promises to complete his work. 456 00:41:51.960 --> 00:41:57.400 He will complete it. God's called us to faith in his holy word. 457 00:41:57.639 --> 00:42:01.070 He's called us to hold on by faith to him, to cling to 458 00:42:01.190 --> 00:42:07.389 him and to stand on those skis you see, to stand on that word 459 00:42:07.469 --> 00:42:12.309 of God and he will take you up to a life, a spiritual realm 460 00:42:12.510 --> 00:42:15.070 and a life that people will look at you and say, what is it 461 00:42:15.150 --> 00:42:19.260 about your life, the quality of your life? You seem to live on 462 00:42:19.380 --> 00:42:23.579 a different plane, in a different way. What is it? And then 463 00:42:23.659 --> 00:42:28.420 we can share about the grace of God that we found in the Lord Jesus 464 00:42:28.460 --> 00:42:32.889 Christ, in the Good News of the Gospel. May You live in that 465 00:42:34.090 --> 00:42:38.730 Gospel this week, rejoicing in it and working for the glory of God. 466 00:42:39.289 --> 00:42:39.849 Let's pray