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, October 13, 1991.
hear the Word of God. And he gave some as apostles and some as prophets. This is Ephesians chapter 4 verse 11.
And he gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith of the knowledge of the Son of God to a mature man to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves, carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all respects into him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. This I say, therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer as the Gentiles also walked in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them because of the hardness of their hearts. and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard him and have been taught in him, just as truth is in Jesus, that in reference to your former manner of life you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new self, which, in the likeness of God, has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth, each one of you with his neighbor. For we are members of one another.
Be angry, and yet do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath. And do not give the devil an opportunity. Let him who steals, steal no longer. Rather, let him labor, performing with his own hands what is good, in order that he may have something to share with him who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you are sealed for the day of redemption. that all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ has also forgiven you.”
And then turning over to Philippians chapter 2, once more this evening, verses 12 and 13, “‘So then, my beloved, just as you have also 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, for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to do, for his good pleasure.
I hope you’ll be patient with me this evening. I am departing from the script and the bulletin you have Genesis 1 listed and message on the creation. And I know that some of you came specifically to hear about Genesis 1 and the creation. But if you’ll bear with me, I’d like to finish up some thoughts on Philippians 2 verses 12 and 13 this evening, including my messages on this portion of Paul’s letter.
Tonight, I would like to focus specifically on verse 13, and most specifically on the conclusion of that verse. Now, we have already looked at this verse over the course of these messages. We have made some comments about this thirteenth verse. We have spoken of it in relationship especially to the general theme of the supremacy of God and the supremacy of God in the matter of our sanctification.
While it is true that we are called upon in the twelfth verse to work out our salvation, focus being upon our responsibility and our response, we are reminded then We are reminded that such effort as we put forward, as is in view in that twelfth verse, is conceivable only because God is at work in us. We have the effect then of the connective as you move from the twelfth verse to the thirteenth. very important connective. Yes, work out your salvation with fear and trembling for, or because, it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. The force of that connective then being so important.
We conclude, therefore, in this connection that we are not faced with some dual-track view of sanctification or salvation. Our sanctification is from the Lord. Ultimately, it is from the Lord, and we must give all praise and all glory for that good that He works in us and that good, then, that is worked by us and is even attributed to us. This should then be abundantly clear to us. We are not, therefore, removed in our responsibility to good works. We are impelled to good works, knowing that God, who has committed himself to good works, is at work in us.
So then, we see this relationship to our sanctification and God’s sovereignty in such a way as to put to rest those suggestions that our sanctification or even our salvation is some sort of dual-track consideration, as if we and God are involved equally and ultimately in these matters and in the same way. Well, that’s one of the things that we have tried to point out as we have looked at this 13th verse. Also, we have seen this text, particularly in light of the concluding words of verse 12, and that’s what we dwelt on this morning, those words being fear and trembling. And we have been impressed by the fact that our worship and our walk in faith are characterized by reverence and sobriety, because after all, wonder of wonders, God is in our midst.
He is among us. He has condescended to dwell in us.” The appropriateness, then, of that fear and trembling, knowing that God is here. The consciousness of the God of glory then dwelling in us astounds us even more. It overwhelms us with a sense of His grace, with a conviction with regard to our own position due to that grace by which we have been brought into the kingdom of light.
We are moving on to the conclusion of this verse, where we read that God is at work in these Philippian saints, and no less in us, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. And what interests us is the specific force of Paul’s words, is good pleasure. God’s good pleasure. What is specifically in view as Paul uses these words. Now we could read these words in their broadest sense. We could read them as if Paul has in mind the widest expanse that would be brought into our view because of the comprehensiveness of this term. in view would then be the fullness of God’s purpose and will in its comprehensiveness.
God’s good pleasure in this regard then would pertain to what we find spelled out in Ephesians chapter one, that marvelous chapter that speaks so powerfully about God’s purpose. about God’s plan, about God’s will, about God’s good pleasure. You have mention made of it in verse 5 of that first chapter in Ephesians. He predestinated us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, widest consideration. Verse 9, He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Him, the widest consideration with respect to God’s good pleasure. Verse 11, also applicable, also we have obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will. So then, this widest consideration for what is spoken of by Paul in Philippians chapter 2, verse 13, where Paul speaks about God’s good pleasure. You could say then that this text, in light of what we have seen in Ephesians chapter 1, deals with God’s predestinating purpose by which he controls all things, and most specifically, the destiny of his elect. Wide, broad, sweet for our consideration and our understanding of Paul’s words.
But we have been maintained, have we not, Now, Philippians 2.13 deals specifically with the matter of sanctification. But there is a narrower focus for Paul’s intention at this point. It’s not as if the widest consideration of God’s purpose is dismissed. No, not at all. but we must narrow things down a bit, be a little bit more specific with regard to what Paul has in mind when he speaks as he does at the end of that 13th verse in Philippians 2. The specific focus is sanctification.
Philippians 2.13 is concerned with that matter.
But that being the case, then, could we say that the sanctification that is in view is specifically that which has to do with our personal holiness and our own individual struggle against indwelling sin? Is that the application for the significance of Paul’s words where he is placing before us the fact that God is at work in us, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Is God’s pleasure then to be interpreted in this context as his interest in our pursuit of personal holiness and our individual struggle against indwelling sin? Now once more, you see, as it was in the first instance, we cannot dismiss the comprehensiveness of God’s purpose and plan when we come to even take up the matter of the specific interest of Paul at this point. Neither can we dismiss entirely the matter of personal holiness and individual struggle against indwelling sin as we come to this text.
In this regard, it has been the habit of some, for instance, to match up what they find here in Philippians 2, verse 13, with what you find in 1 Thessalonians 4, verses 4 and 5. You want to check those verses. They’re very explicit, very direct. 1 Thessalonians 4, I’m sorry, verse 3 is the verse that we want to begin with.
For this is the will of God.” Specific reference to the will of God, with respect to the people of God, these saints at Thessalonica. This is the will of God, even your sanctification. That is, it goes on further, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God. and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you, for God has not called you for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.”
It has been the habit of some to read what we find in verse 13 of Philippians 2, in connection, then, with what we find in 1 Thessalonians 4, 3 through 7. That in view specifically, then, as we expound God’s good pleasure, is this matter of sanctification as it pertains to personal holiness and the individual pursuit of that holiness as we struggle against indwelling sin. And over against this, I would remind you of something that we saw early on in our study of this text. That is, as we have approached it, we have endeavored to maintain this truth, that there is a corporate focus for this passage in Philippians chapter 2.
It is not so much concerned with our individual pursuit of personal holiness, It is rather concerned with the corporate life of the people of God. Not that personal holiness doesn’t impinge upon that. It most certainly does. And you’ve probably already picked that up from our reading in Ephesians chapter 4, where Paul seems to introduce matters of personal holiness into his discussion at that point. So yes, personal holiness and purity and refusal to buckle under to the pressures of sexual immorality, these are very much a part of the corporate life of the people of God.
But is that the specific reference and interest of the Apostle Paul at this point? Is that what he is getting at? As important as this interest is, it remains too singular, too personal in nature to satisfy the significance of Paul’s words at this juncture. We need an explanation that brings into view the relationship that these Philippians then bear to one another, not just how they conduct themselves personally with respect to their own personal holiness in their struggle against indwelling sin, but how they treat one another.
This then being the case, possibly what Paul has in mind as he talks, as he does, is something along the lines of what we find in Ephesians chapter 2, turning to that passage. So after we have that marvelous excursus on grace, you can rattle it off from memory, I’m sure, Ephesians 2, verse 8, and also verse 9, we come to verse 10, a text that is often neglected and forgotten. For we are his workmanship, we are told, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. And we have something of the comprehensiveness of God’s purpose brought into relationship with this corporate dimension that we have been created for good works. And these good works are definitely to be expressed, cannot be expressed otherwise, but in the context of other people. As these Christians then are enjoined with respect to their behavior in relationship to one another.
Is the good pleasure of God then, as it is spoken of in Philippians 2.13, is the good pleasure of God the active engagement in good works. God’s good pleasure is that we, his people, be zealous for good works. There’s another text that speaks of that matter. You might think of Titus chapter 2, verse 14.
That good which specifically, then, has wonderful benefit for those who are around it. For while we are closer to the truth now, we’re getting there. But we’ve moved in our thinking now, with regard to this whole matter, down the line. We are not yet home.
Rest this text. has in view our sanctification, it has in view that corporate reference, so that it is more focused upon our relationships, one with another, and with our own personal progress in piety, that is, personal holiness. But there is that specific point of reference now, that unpacks Paul’s meaning when he speaks of God’s good pleasure or His purpose in this context. There is that specific point of reference in relationship to God’s good pleasure which is working itself out in His saints. And that is the bond that exists between the good pleasure that is spoken of here at the end of verse 13, and the presentation which Paul has made of Jesus Christ himself in verses 5 through 11. It is more specific, then, than just good works. As much as they may be in view with his more specific still than just good works as Paul speaks of God’s good pleasure, what God is accomplishing in us.
You see, Paul here has in mind the coming to expression in us, of that atmosphere and environment that is found specifically and nowhere else but in Christ Jesus. And how does Paul expound that atmosphere and environment that is found specifically and uniquely in Christ?
He expounds it in terms of the willingness of the Son to forgo privilege in order to be made as if he were nothing. He who was Lord becoming servant, taking upon himself a position of lowliness in order that others might be served. This, then, is the exposition specifically of the Father or God’s good pleasure at the end of verse 13 in that second chapter. It is that God is at work in us, in His Church, so as to bring about transformation in us, so that we, like His Son, are giving ourselves over to one another and for the sake of one another.
It is more specific than just the admonition for good works. It has specific content with regard to the whole history of the life of Christ. Therefore, So, very specifically, what the apostle has in mind as he uses these words is that progress in the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ of which he speaks in Ephesians 4, verse 13, which we read previously. But growing up into Christ then means that you become a servant like unto Him. And the mind that is consistent with this Christ is that which is found nowhere else but in the environment and atmosphere of Christ Jesus Himself.
Our God’s purpose then, and His presence among us, is to the end that we might then express that atmosphere and environment found in Christ, that this might be worked out thoroughly within us as we, in servant fashion, even as cross-bearing disciples, are conformed to the image of our Savior for the good and the service of others. God is at work in us, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. our conformity to Christ as servants for God’s sake. Let’s pray. Our Father, if we are to expound the obedience that the apostle has in mind. If we are to expound his words, work out your own salvation. If we are to expound his words, your good pleasure.
We cannot do so apart from what he has set before us in the person and work of your Son. O Lord, exalt Jesus in our hearts and for us as a congregation, that this One who is our Savior would be exalted truly as we live in and from Him. His mind at work for us, and determinative for us, as in fact we live as He lived. Give us the strength then, Lord, to give ourselves up, to even take up our crosses daily and follow Him, and by way of that cross, which is set before us in Him. May we make ourselves available as He has made Himself available. May we prove to be servants indeed in His likeness. May we rejoice, our God, that in this our full humanity is discovered. For along these lines, surely, We are renewed in the image of God. Hear us, Lord. We pray for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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