WITH FEAR AND
TREMBLING
Philippians
2:12-13
Who brings the best out of you? And for that matter, who brings the worst
out of you?
Over the years
I have learned that when I am around some people, they bring out the worst in
me! One friend from back in college did
that for me and I for him. When we were
together, we were awful about making fun of people, each of us trying to be
more cynical and sarcastic than the other, each of us getting more and more
critical and harsh the more time we spent together. Although we were both Christians, we tended to ignore that
foundation and often descended into the pits—all the while excusing each other
because we both knew that we “were not really like that” but just acted like
that when we hung out together. We
realized that we brought out the worst in each other but only occasionally
tried to do anything about it.
But there have
been others who have brought out the best in me, people who cared about me,
encouraged me, challenged me, made me believe that I could succeed when others
doubted me.
I love being
around people like that—people who invest in me, and then bring the best out of
me. Some people believe that constant
nagging and criticizing bring out the best in people, or at least that is how
they operate. But I have found that
those who are most willing to put something into you are the most likely to
bring the best out of you.
They are the
ones you want to please, the ones who matter so much to you that you are
sometimes afraid that you cannot live up to their lofty estimations of
you. You actually find that the thought
of disappointing them makes you somewhat anxious because you want them to be
satisfied with your effort and your success.
God has an
amazing investment in you. In fact, as
Paul says in our passage, it is God who at work in you. Therefore, because He has so much going in
us, it is only right that He deserves to get the best out of us.
THESIS: As
Christ works in us, His power goes to work to bring the best out of us, to
bring forth the kind of life He redeemed us to live—walking in the fear of the
Lord for the glory of His name.
As we have noted
in the previous studies on the fear of the Lord, there is an ungodly fear from
which Jesus Christ has freed us, a fear that drives us away from the Lord. But there is a godly fear that prompts us to
fear the Lord, but in a way that compels us to come to Him and find in Him a
place of peace and rest.
Isaiah 8:13-14a The LORD Almighty is the one you are to
regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, 14and he will be a
sanctuary…
This LORD Almighty is investing in our lives, working in our
lives, to produce godly character, Christ-likeness, so that He can bring out of
us what is His very best.
I. WHAT GOD
HAS WORKED INTO OUR LIVES
Phil. 2:12 So then, my beloved, 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;
13for it is God who is
at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
--God goes to work in you when you put your trust in Jesus
Christ in order to accomplish His purposes in you.
--By the strength of His will, His overwhelming presence and
power combine forces to work in our lives in such a way that what pleases Him
for good can be accomplished.
A. ATONED
FOR BY CHRIST
--By the work of Christ in you, your sin is atoned for and
you are justified by faith in His name.
--That is settled completely and accomplished fully for you
by the sufficiency of His sacrifice to pay the penalty you owed for your sin.
B. ADOPTED
THROUGH THE SPIRIT
--Then when we have been forgiven and our hearts made clean,
God works in us again to adopt us and call us His own, sealing us and setting
us apart as His own.
Romans 8:15
“…received a spirit of adoption…”
C. ACCEPTED
BY THE FATHER
--Then we who are adopted are accepted by the Father and
made fellow heirs with Christ.
Rom. 8:16-17 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God, 17and
if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed
we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.
--All these things and more have been accomplished and are
being accomplished by “God who is at work
in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
--Our salvation, from start to finish, is a work of God’s
grace—that is what He has worked in
us!
II. WHAT WE
MUST WORK OUT IN OUR LIVES
--What God has worked in, by the power of the Holy Spirit we
must now work out, allowing the inner life to determine the shape of the outer
life.
Too many have devoted themselves only to the condition of their hearts
and have kept that separate from the way they actually live their lives. The result is all too often a blatant
hypocrisy that is guilty of declaring one thing and living another. What God works in, we must work out!
A. PUTting
FEET ON OUR FAITH
--What God has done in our hearts can best be measured by
how effectively our new being impacts
our new behavior.
--If we claim to have hearts indwelt by the Spirit of God
which are being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, those hearts will shape
our actions—they will put feet on our faith!
--We are now responsible before God to work out the
implications of our salvation, to work out the details of what it means to be
new creatures in Christ…and do it in the fear
of the Lord!
Phil. 2:12 … but now much more in my absence, work out
your salvation with fear and trembling…
b.
PERFECTing FEAR IN OUR HEARTS
--When something is so good that you cannot imagine living
without it, it is natural to be afraid of losing it, messing up in such a way
that you drive away the very thing that means the most to you.
--Therefore, it is only right to set our hearts on a course
to pursue favor with our Savior, seeking to know Him, desiring to discover what
pleases Him, determined to be totally committed to giving all we have to show
Him the depth of our love.
--How does this fear compel us to draw closer to the Lord?
--An ungodly fear drives us away from Him, but a godly fear
creates a hunger and a longing to draw near.
--That fear manifests itself in many ways as we understand
how valuable our relationship with the Lord is, and how much we desire to
nurture it and not damage it.
When true love develops in a relationship, there is a persistent voice
in your head that keeps telling you to take great care with this love because
it is precious beyond words. The
feeling that arises sends a message that you cannot ignore: “Don’t do something stupid to mess this
up!” We have a fear that we could blow
it if we are not careful!
While we need not fear “losing our
Father” or being cast out of the family, because Christ has secured our place
eternally, we should approach Him with the fear of the Lord in our hearts that
we do nothing to “mess this up.”
Instead, by perfecting fear in our hearts, we find that we are compelled
to come closer and closer to Him to be sure that we know what pleases Him. A healthy fear of the Lord causes us to
guard our hearts against anything that would impede our growth in Christ.
1. Fear of
Offending Him
--When I appreciate fully the greatness of His love for me
and stand in awe of majesty and glory, I want to do nothing that would in any
way offend Him, or place a stumbling block in the way that leads me to His
throne.
Acts 24:16 “In view of this, I also do my best to
maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men.
2 Cor. 6:1, 3 And working together with Him, we also urge
you not to receive the grace of God in vain … 3giving no cause for
offense in anything, in order that the ministry be not discredited,
If I love you, I never want to offend you because I
value our relationship too much to drive a wedge between us. Selfish acts and thoughtless deeds which
normally characterize my life are held back by the thought that you would be
offended and I could not in good conscience face you if I had been the cause
for such an offense.
Sin offends God.
I cannot sin without understanding that each time I do, I offend Him…the
last thing I want to do with One whose glory matters more to me, whose love
matters more to me, than the momentary pleasure of sin.
My fear that I might offend the
Lord serves to advance His purpose of having me work out my salvation with fear
and trembling!
2. Fear of
Dishonoring Him
--To dishonor the Lord is different than offending Him in
that offending Him actively drives a wedge between us while dishonoring Him
brings a shadow across the face of His glory.
--We dishonor Him to our shame when we act or think in such
a way that we rob Him of glory.
Psa. 69:5 O God, it is Thou who dost know my folly,
And my wrongs are not hidden from Thee.
6 May those who wait for Thee not be ashamed through me, O Lord GOD of
hosts; May those who seek Thee not be dishonored through me, O God of
Israel, 7 Because for Thy sake I have
borne reproach; Dishonor has covered my face.
--If we realize that what we do can cause our Father to be
ashamed of us, and can cause those who seek Him to be muddied by their
association with us, that gives us every reason to beware!
When our attitudes and actions bring dishonor, they
cast a dark shadow over the name that we bear.
The family names Hitler and Stalin can never recover from the atrocities
committed by their sons, Adolf and Joseph.
Who names a child Judas or Jezebel because of the shame that goes with
the dishonor associated with them?
Every day we face the possibility of making choices
that would embarrass our Savior and dishonor His Father. The fear of the Lord keeps a close grip on
the reins of our hearts to hold us in check.
3. Fear of
Grieving Him
--On a much more sensitive point, we fear the Lord so that
we may not grieve Him, or disappoint Him.
--Those who trust in Him are never disappointed, but God is
grieved when we do not trust Him or revere Him in what we do.
Eph. 4:30
And do not grieve the Holy
Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
When I grew older as a child, I found it easier to
deal with the wrath of my parents than with their disappointment. If they were angry by what I did, I could
endure the punishment and get over it and go on. But I could not overcome disappointment until I had rebuilt the
trust that had been lost by whatever I had done to grieve them and cause them
pain.
Because of the fear of the Lord, I never
intentionally want to do anything that will disappoint my heavenly Father. I never want to look into His eyes and see
grief over me instead of glory in me!
--Therefore, when I walk in the fear of the Lord I keep
watch so that I avoid all things that would grieve Him.
4. Fear of
Abandoning Him
--As much as I am assured that He will never leave me or
forsake me, my fear is that I will get so caught up in this world’s pleasures
and pressures that I will forsake the Lord and walk away from Him.
Deut. 31:6 “Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid
or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will
not fail you or forsake you.”
--That is His promise to us, but even though we know that
apart from Him we can do nothing, we are prone to wander.
Come Thou Fount –
O to grace how
great a debtor
daily I’m
constrained to be!
Let that grace, Lord, like a fetter
bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander—Lord I feel it—
prone to leave
the God I love:
Here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it,
seal it for Thy
courts above.
Robert
Robinson, 1735-90
--I never want to do anything that would lead me to abandon
the God who is my strength and portion forever!
--Oh that I might walk in the fear of the Lord in such a way
that my fear of drifting will anchor my soul to His!
5. Fear of
Misrepresenting Him
--Last of all, I am afraid sometimes that I will live in
such a way that those observing my life will get the wrong impression of who
God is because I have misrepresented Him so badly in the way I live.
--Peter’s exhortation to wives deserves careful attention
for all believers:
1 Pet. 3:1-2 In the same way, you wives, be submissive to
your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they
may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, 2as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. (…when they see the purity and reverence of your lives…NIV;
…beholding your chaste behavior coupled
with fear…ASV)
--We want to live in such a way that we never misrepresent
the Lord and cause others to think less of Him than He deserves, to form ideas
that are unworthy of Him—and that because we have said or done something that
was an inaccurate measure of His worth!
--We are to walk in the fear of the Lord so that we work out
our salvation with fear and trembling…walking in the fear of the Lord so that
we preserve the fear of God in our hearts in a way that shapes and forms our
lives to give an accurate reflection of the glory of Jesus Christ.
III. WHAT A
DIFFERENCE FEAR WILL MAKE IN OUR ATTITUDES
--In conclusion, when we fear the Lord, and have learned to
live with that as a prevailing attitude in our lives, it will make a major
difference in how we approach the Lord our God.
--It marks the difference between approaching God…
A.
Carelessly or Cautiously
--Will we dare to be careless when we have a godly fear of
the Lord in our hearts?
--No, we will guard our hearts and live with care, and
approach our days with confidence, yes, but with a caution that keeps watch so
that we give glory to God in all things.
B.
Flippantly or Fervently
--Will we dare to be flippant as we approach our life in
Christ or will we demonstrate a passion and fervor to live for His honor and
devote ourselves to His pleasure?
--There is nothing flippant or casual about the way God is
to be adorned with praise in our lives…when we walk in the fear of the Lord, we
will never be flippant, or take Him for granted…but seek His glory above all
things!
C.
Trivializing or Trembling
--When we work out our salvation with fear and trembling, we
come to the understanding that our relationship with the Lord God Almighty can
never be trivialized.
--Each time we approach Him in prayer, in worship, in the
study of His word, even in acts of service and obedience—we do so with the
understanding that as we stand on the holy ground of His presence, it is no
small thing we do.
--We stand in awe and tremble, but we never treat Him in a
trivial manner or in a way that allows the Majesty of His name to be
diminished.
Walking in the fear of the Lord bring
out the best in us. Nothing else
succeeds in prompting us to live exclusively and devotedly for the glory of
Jesus Christ than living with a proper perspective on who He is and standing in
awe and approaching Him with reverence.
God Himself is
investing in us, encouraging us, challenging us, transforming us from the
inside out so that we are able to work out our new life in Christ with fear and
trembling. When we see him as he is in
all His holiness, when we behold His overwhelming glory, the very thought of doing
anything that would have a negative impact on His matchless name causes us to
tremble. We love Him and stand in awe
of Him and can conceive of nothing better than having Him work in us to bring
the best out of us for His glory and our good!
Christ
working in us brings the best out of us…when we work out our salvation with
fear and trembling!