Good day
I hope you were challenged
by the previous messages. We continue today with this passage:
Philippians 2:12-16:
“Therefore, my beloved, as you 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 who works in you both to
will and to do for His good pleasure.
Do all things without complaining and disputing (these
are the things the Lord prompts us to do in order to change), that you may become blameless and harmless, children of
God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom
you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the
word of life...”
Why did Paul mention ‘fear and trembling’ in this
context? When we work hard, together with the Holy
Spirit, at having ourselves saved/delivered from those things that keep us from
becoming holy, setting ourselves apart to accomplish the purposes of God, our
enemy will not like it and will work against us by affecting our circumstances
and by increasing persecution. Because of this we may feel reluctant to
continue with our pursuits in obedience to the Lord, due to fear of opposition
and persecution that may follow.
This is Biblical, since
Jesus said that we will have trouble in the world (John 16:33), Paul mentioned
hardship to Timothy (2 Timothy 4:5, 2 Timothy 2:3) and many of us can testify
to it. The natural reaction to facing huge challenges is fear, but we do not
need to yield to it, for we read in Philippians 4:6-7: “Do
not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus.”
Then we need to face
another fear as well – the Lord is not to be messed about and demands holiness
and perfection (maturity). I think we rely too much on grace as previously
mentioned. Will you forever get away with sloppy work at your job? Your
employer certainly puts pressure on you to excel, and if you are self-employed
your customers and the competition demands excellence. Therefore if we do not
act excellently, the fear of getting reprimanded and disciplined, losing your
job, losing customers and losing a market share cause you to improve in
excellence, do they not? So how about our service to God? Do you fear His
discipline when you are lazy or disobedient?
How do you experience
God when you read through the books of the prophets? Do you see Him in there as
a loving Father pampering Israel with words like: “Do not worry my dear people;
I am tolerant of your serving of idols and you ignoring me, because I love
you”? No, He revealed Himself as a jealous God exercising discipline on those
who disobey. ‘But we are in the dispensation of the New Testament,’ you may
say, ‘God has changed into a loving Father, full of grace and mercy.’ Has He?
How about the example of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-9), or Jesus’ parable
on the talents relating the consequences for the servant who hid his one talent
(Matthew 25:24-30), His words in Matthew 7:21-23 where He cautions us to be
obedient to the will of His Father or He will reject us at the day of
judgement, or the warning in Hebrews 12 about the necessity of discipline as we
have discussed a while ago. The list of references in the New Testament to God
as a righteous God expecting results and obedience is quite long.
I have a temptation
that I struggle with. I have fought it in prayer, worked hard at removing it
from my life, but it keeps on being a thorn in my flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7). I
know God’s grace is sufficient for me, but I also know I cannot just accept sin
(Romans 6:1-2). I have to work at getting rid of it. God is merciful and His
grace sustains us whilst we work at our salvation from sin, but we need to keep
working. At the occasions that I submit to this particular temptation, Satan
and my flesh have all kinds of lovely justifying arguments why it is not that
bad, but I still get disciplined. At times when I am too weak to resist and
yield to it, I immediately repent and work it out, for I know discipline will
follow and I dread the consequences.
I love my children and
therefore had to discipline them so they would not proceed with unacceptable
behaviour. They feared the discipline and therefore complied. The Lord loves
you and therefore has to discipline you (Hebrews 12). Fear His discipline and
work at getting rid of those things in your life with which the Lord cannot get
along with.
Excuses are not going
to have any benefit when we stand before God on the day of reckoning. We need
to prepare to stand proud before God one day like the servant who handed his
Master five more talents which he obtained through dedication to the
expectations of his Master.
Next time we will look
at why this is necessary in the light of our relationship with God and how to
go about it.
Lord, please show me
the truth.
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