This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Philippians” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, December 1, 1991.
We begin our picture reading this morning in Philippians chapter one. Chapter one. Verse twelve. Here the word of God. But I would, ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel, so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in all other places, and many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
Some indeed preach Christ, even of envy and strife, and some also of goodwill. But one preached Christ of contention, not sincerely supposing to add affliction to my bonds, but the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel. What then? Notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.
For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also, Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. For to me, To live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
And then in the second chapter, beginning with verse 12, “‘Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasures. do all things without murmurings and disputing, that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain nor labored in vain. Yea, and if I am offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all, for the same cause also do ye joy and rejoice with me.”
I call your attention to the 16th verse of Philippians 2, where Paul says, as read in the New American Standard Version, “…holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may have cause to glory, because I did not run in vain, nor toil in vain.”
I want you to listen carefully. to what Paul says in that verse. Paul speaks, it seems, as if his joy, as if his thanksgiving in the day of Christ is in jeopardy. Do you hear what he says? He wants the Philippians to hold fast the word of life so that in the day of Christ he may have cause to glory or he may rejoice because he did not run in vain nor toil in vain. The suggestion seems to be that somehow His rejoicing in the day of Christ is threatened by the behavior of these Philippians.
He loves these Philippians. He writes to them out of love, but he is very straightforward. He is very direct. He speaks as if His delight at the end will be conditioned by the sanctification of the saints to whom he writes. Most pointedly, then, from this 16th verse, we see that Paul is contending that their success, these Philippians’ success, at holding forth the word of life will impinge upon his joy and sense of accomplishment in the great day.” Now, this sort of language from the Apostle is not something new. We hear him speaking this way in other places in his epistles. We even hear him speaking this way in another place in this epistle. And that is why I return to the first chapter of Philippians for our scripture reading. Do you notice that 19th verse in the first chapter?
Paul, in speaking about the predicament that has come upon him, says this, “‘For I know that this shall turn out for my salvation through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.'” He speaks in this text as if his salvation or his sanctification under the plight of his imprisonment would be accomplished through the prayers of these Philippian believers.
Now let me ask you, does our salvation, does our sanctification, The outworking of our salvation depend upon the prayers of others? What about the means of grace? What are the means of grace? do we not all know what the means of grace are? The Word, the sacraments, and prayer. But with respect to this latter means of grace, prayer, is it our belief that it is only our personal prayers for ourselves that are an effectual means of God’s grace to us?
Or is it rather that we stand even desperately in the need of the prayers of others? Now, in order that we might not miss the point, the apostle puts this whole matter in the strongest language possible. He talks in that 19th verse of the first chapter as if nothing less than his salvation depends upon the prayers of these friends of his in Philippi. If you don’t pray, I’m not safe. Now I want to ask you how different your prayers would be. If you saw clearly that the salvation of those for whom you pray depends upon your prayers.
How great the humility, even of this one, the Apostle, as he so expresses himself. His language declares a dependence upon others, and it generates within him a thankfulness for such devotion shown by them on his behalf. At the same time, you will note in this 19th verse of the first chapter how great a demonstration of Christ we find here.
You ask yourself, how is Christ demonstrated in these prayers from the Philippian saints on behalf of Paul? Will you notice the conclusion of that verse? What Paul does with the prayers of these Philippian believers, he actually places their prayers at the level of the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Do you see how these two things are there set in tandem? For I know that this shall turn out for my salvation through your prayers, one, and through the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, two.” These Philippians then in their ministry of prayer are actually elevated to the level of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. That’s how the apostle views them.
Paul, therefore, in his severe need in his imprisonment which he is undergoing, that even more in his self-recognized and self-confessed need of salvation and sanctification, is utterly dependent upon the intercessions, yes, the intercessions of that one who continually makes intercessions for his own, the Lord Jesus Christ. But now the Philippians pray without ceasing for Paul, and in that activity of prayer on behalf of this one they love, they take upon themselves the form of Christ’s own prayer. Their ministry of intercession on behalf of the apostle flows forth out of the intercessions of Christ. And as Christ prays without ceasing on behalf of his own, so these Philippians are praying without ceasing on behalf of those that one they love.
In fact, we can put it even more strongly. The perpetual heavenly intercessions of Christ are expressing themselves in the faithful intercessions of the saints for one another. As God has ordered things, just as you are dependent completely upon the intercessions of Christ from the right hand of God, you are dependent upon the intercession of one another. This then is what will indeed help your prayers. When you see them as but an expression of the prayers of Christ and his faithful intercession on behalf of those he loves. Will you not then likewise But the pattern we find here in chapter 1 verse 19 is asserting itself in chapter 2 verse 16. But you’ll notice how things are changed a bit here.
For it is not the salvation and sanctification of the apostle that is in view, rather it is the salvation and sanctification of the Philippians that are in view. Note verse 12 of chapter 2, where the apostle speaks specifically about the salvation of these Philippians. He says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. The salvation of these Philippians then is in the balance. Their salvation as expressed through their sanctification. The Apostle speaks further about this matter as he presses home this issue of salvation and sanctification in verse 14, when he speaks to them directly about the grumbling and the disputing that have arisen among them because they’re having a very difficult time getting along with one another. And further, in verse 15, as he calls them to remember that they are blameless and innocent, that they are the sons of God above reproach, that they shine as light in the world in the midst of a perverse and wicked generation. But now Paul concludes his description of their salvation and sanctification in verse 16. calling upon them to hold forth the word of life. And then he states, with respect to the whole matter that he has been addressing, he states his joy, his rejoicing in the last day, in the judgment day, will suffer if they fail to persevere in their salvation and their sanctification. He will undergo disappointment. In fact, he will be subjected to shame, because it will appear that he has run in vain and he has labored in vain.
The apostle here shamelessly presumes upon the love these believers bear toward him, even though they are having a very hard time loving one another. The Apostle shamelessly presumes upon the love these believers bear toward him by making his joy, his rejoicing in the day of Christ at the last day, hang upon their continuance and progress in the faith.
Paul is appealing to their love for him, They then would not wish Paul, whom they loved so much, to suffer any disappointment in the day of Christ. And because that is true, they then will apply themselves without reservation to their calling in Christ, and the manifestation of love, one toward another, without demand. But of course, you know, Paul’s interest is not simply, or even chiefly, that these dear people, dear to him, would act out of their love for Him. For behind and beyond the Apostle, these folk must see Jesus Himself, the One whose joy in the day of His own appearing will reflect upon his people’s faithfulness. If these people would not wish to disappoint Paul in the day of Christ, how much less would they want to disappoint Jesus?
You don’t want to disappoint Jesus. in the day he appears to you. This one that you love so much, even more than any apostle, even more than any preacher or leader, this One whom you love so much, you don’t want to disappoint Him, nor do you wish to be a disappointment to Him when He appears. You do not wish him to be denied the joy that is his, which he is to find in you.
Rather, may you do everything as you work out your salvation with fear and trembling, as you demonstrate the fact that you are blameless and innocent children of God above reproach, shining as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life as you do everything you can, maintaining then Christ’s delight in you for that great and incomparably wonderful day. Give us grace, our God. May we live fully in the grace that you have supplied us, your wonderful love and mercy, your undeserved favor. And Lord, we pray that as we apply ourselves with respect to the salvation that is ours, that there would be no occasion for the disappointment of our Savior when he comes. O Lord, strengthen our resolve, build us up in our prayers, and in the demonstration of our love one for another, for surely Christ’s own life is coming to expression in us, and we are being ministered unto by his life as it is expressed in others who would serve us for his sake. We thank you, our God, for the richness and depth of your revelation, and of this salvation which is given us by you. Amen.
The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.