August 2-3, 1997 Sermon

August 2-3, 1997

David Johnson

Introduction
David Johnson is the Senior Pastor at Church of the Open Door in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His ministry is marked with a unique and insightful approach to the teaching of God's word. With his leadership the church has grown from 160 people in 1980 to 4500 today. David is featured daily on the radio broadcast Growing in Grace. He is an internationally sought after speaker and has authored the book "The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse."

David Johnson
Philippians 2:12-15
12: 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 God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
14: Do all things without grumbling or questioning,
15: that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world

A word of encouragement to you as a church. My spirit around it is that what I want to share is something that is going to encourage you to do what I think as a church you are already doing. It is out of the book Philippians, second chapter, verses 12 through 15.
My paraphrase of this passage is this: "Work out into your living where people can see it the life of God you already have. Do it with a sense of urgency." In fact, be a little bit afraid of not working into your living the life of God that you have. Two reasons: Number one - because it's God who's at work in you, which means, among other things, we are not playing church, spiritual pattycake. This is a serious thing -- that God of the universe is at work in you. Second reason: It is important --vital in fact -- to work out into your living the life of God you have is this; because in a crooked and a perverse generation where evil men and impostors grow from bad to worse, you appear as lights. You hold forth the word of truth. Paul said all of that this way: "So then my beloved brethren, just as you have always obeyed not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling." Fear and trembling? Why? "For it's God at work in you, both to be willing to work for His good pleasure; do everything without grumbling or disputing" --we don't have time for that--"but you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you appear as lights in the world holding fast the word of life."

The Four Questions
Two phrases specifically in that twelfth verse that leap off the page at me begging for explanation are these: 1) Work out your salvation. 2) with fear and trembling. Those two phrases raise in my mind four questions. The four questions are these: What on earth does it mean to work out your salvation? I'm going to say a little more about this later, but let me tell you first of all what that does not mean. That does not mean work FOR you salvation, work AT your salvation, work ON your salvation. We don't work for our salvation -- we have been saved by grace through faith. What it means at the simplest level is this: Work out what God has placed in here by His spirit. Work it out into your life where people can see it.
Second question: Why is that so important? Third question: How does verse 12 where it says "work out your salvation" fit with verse 13 where it says "God who is at work in you." My question is: Which is it? -- God who works it out? Or is it I who works it out?

I. How Can Fear Be A Good Thing
Which is then the fourth question -- How can fear and trembling ever be a good thing? How can fear and trembling ever be a positive force? Jesus said, "Fear not." Let's deal with this fear thing. First of all, because it kind of sets the tone in my mind for the entire section we are going to be dealing with here. Fear is regarded by most of us, I think, as a negative thing. It's effect in most contexts is to weaken us, to debilitate and paralyze us. Everybody in this room has at one time or another been by fear hindered - prevented by fear from acting. The book of Hebrews speaks of a people who because of fear, shrink back. It feels like such a bizarre thing to literally call people to fear. You don't call people to fear!! You rebuke fear!

II Timothy 1:7
7: for God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control.

Philippians 4:6
6: Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

I John 4:18
18: There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and he who fears is not perfected in love.

Indeed, this same Paul who spoke here of fear and trembling, working out your salvation in fear and trembling, in another epistle wrote --in 2nd Timothy 1:7: "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of courage, love and discipline." So whatever fear is, wherever it comes from, it's not from God! Philippians 4:6, Paul is saying, "Be anxious for nothing." It sounds to me like "Be not afraid!" I John 4:18 says "Perfect love casts out fear." And in that context, fear is a bad thing; it needs to be cast out. But, I submit that there is in fact a kind of fear that is not a bad thing. It is a kind of fear that most of you know about, most of you have experienced, the kind of fear that is far from weakening you. It quickens you, awakens you, energizes you. It has been experienced by anybody who has ever sought to involve themselves in something, to dare to do something where the outcome is unsure, where the stakes are high, the outcome matters, where it makes a difference. If you have experienced it a number of ways -- the day you asked the love of your life to marry you was a day you probably felt a little bit of fear. In fact, these romantic, sappy movies always seem to have this portion where this guy is falling all over trying to ask his fiancée "Will you m-m-m-m-marry me?" --can't get the word out, and there is a kind of fear that debilitates you, shuts you down, the kind that keeps you from moving forward.
There is another kind of fear in the same context. The day you are asking the love of your life to marry you, it causes you to maybe stay up all night and be preoccupied all day. But what it does is, in fact, rather than shut you down, it picks you right up, and you are ready to say what you have on your heart and you can say it better than it has ever been said! You will never do it again, but you did it that time really well.

II. Why Is It Important?
You've been working on a project six months. Tomorrow morning -- and into that kind of culture the apostle Paul two thousand years ago said, "The church of Jesus Christ, open your eyes! Wake up! Quicken your senses!" This is not the preseason! The stakes are high, the outcome matters! Men and women of faith, work out into your living where people can see it, the life of God you have. Do it. Be a little bit afraid of not doing that. Why? Because in a crooked and perverse generation, people who are authentically living out their faith may be that generation's only hope! I believe with all my heart that we are living in an unprecedented opportunity for kingdom work. I absolutely believe that. And it is partly because of the unraveling of our culture. What the unraveling of our culture is producing in the hearts of people is also an unprecedented kind of hunger. There is a readiness and where the church has to be ready, however, is with something that is authentic --something that is God-breathed, the real deal, not just business as usual. We are not here to play church. We don't have time to play spiritual pattycake. "Stop your grumbling and complaining" right here in the middle of the text, verse 14. I think part of the energy Paul had with that is this: We don't have time for the petty stuff!! Generation X is going to hell in a handbasket.

III. Work Out Your Salvation?
Work it out with fear and trembling, the life with God you have. What does it mean --the third question -- to work this thing out?? I've already told you a little bit about what this thing means, simply work out into your life the salvation that you have. Add to that, this nuance of fulfillment, coming to fruit, or gaining the full usage of the life of God. I like that.
Let me illustrate that this way. I like cars. I particularly like hot cars, and I have a fantasy that will never come true, but that someday somebody will give to me a concept car with all the bells and whistles. The kind of car that --well, if you don't have a concept car, just imagine a car that is so hot and so advanced and so fast that literally it scare you to drive it! OOOH --This is bigger than I am! Now I'm quite sure that if some people were given a car that is that hot and that big, what they would do with it is store it. They would stick it in their garage and they would look at it and they would call their friends to come over and they would show it to them. They would wax it and read about it, take out the owner's manual, read about all the little features it has and how it can exceed abundantly above all the little things that a car could ever do!! They might even take it to shows and take it to seminars and talk about what the car is able to perform. I don't know about you, but what I know about me for sure is that I would absolutely hate that! Because after a awhile it would not be enough to me to know that this car could go from 0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds. Somewhere along the line, I would want to do that. I would want to feel what it feels like to go from 0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds. I would want to feel the turbo kick in! I would want it to snap my neck back! I would want it to hurt, to scare me just a little bit!

Philippians 3:8
8: Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ

Paul's passion was this: Philippians, chapter 3: "My passion in life is I want to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings." I don't want to just preach sermons--yes I want to preach sermons, but I don't want to just preach sermons that are theologically correct about the resurrection of Christ. I'm telling you my passion is I might enter into and just get a taste of and experience in my life the power of His resurrection. I am willing also to enter into the fellowship of His sufferings. Have in you also the attitude which is: Wait a minute, I don't want to just preach sermons about having the attitude which is also in Christ. I want to EXPERIENCE --- to have the kind of servant heart Jesus himself had who, though he was God, He emptied himself!. I want to experience and see that fleshed out in my life! I want to drive that car! I don't want to just be able to give talks about the gifts of the spirit. I want to EXPERIENCE the gifts of the spirit, through the spirit. I don't want to just talk. I want to experience that genuine spirit-born love, joy, peace, long-suffering because those things are not naturally part of my character. I want to see those things fleshed. I want to drive that car!! This is what is means to work it out in your life.

IV. Who Does The Work?

Philippians 2:13
13: for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Final question: Who does this working out into your life? "Work it out" -- seems like you do. "For God who is at work in you" sound like God does it. Hope it's God, so I don't have to do anything. Well the answer to who works it out is: Does God work it out? Do I work it out? --The answer is YES. Something divine, I can't divide it all --what I do and what God does -- whether we are dealing with the fact of our salvation, the process of our sanctification, the effectiveness of our service, the truth of it is, please know, the secret to any of it is verse 13. "God at work in you."

Colossians 1:27
27: To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

God's great secret in Colossians 1:27 "Our great hope is Christ in you." That is your only hope of ever living in a glorious way. But if we get the idea that it's Christ at work in us so much that we are all of a sudden like robots. OOPS, whoops, there I go obeying God again; I don't really want to, but here I go. You know that's silly. There is a union of my will and my activity and even the empowerment of my will in tandem with the life and power of God that takes what I do and uses it and multiplies it for the kingdom. It's God, it's me. Pull it together, work this thing out. Flesh this thing out. Live this thing out. How? With fear and trembling!. Not the kind of fear that weakens and paralyzes. Pray against that kind of fear. In this church, pray against that kind of fear. The kind of fear that understands Ginghamsburg Church; the stakes are high in this community, the outcome matters, it makes a difference.
Therefore continue to be alert, awake, aware, nostrils flared, senses hyped. Why? Two reasons: God's at work in you. This is not pretend! It's not the preseason! This game counts! Second: In a crooked and perverse generation, you appear as lights, and you hold fast the word of life. In a crooked and perverse generation --this might feel grandiose, but here is the truth -- you may be that generation's only hope! Work it out where people can see it!
Father, I pray, take this word and drive it deep into the hearts of the men and women in this room. I pray in Jesus name. AMEN.