Are You Working Out Your Salvation?

Transcription

1 Message for THE LORD'S DAY EVENING, August 3, 2014 Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister REVIVAL MESSAGE TOPIC: Christian Living Are You Working Out Your Salvation? Philippians 2:12,13 (NKJV) Please turn with me in your Bibles to Philippians the second chapter. And let's read VERSES 12 and 13. Philippians 2:12 (NKJV) 12 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; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. P R A Y E R ************************************************************ I N T R O D U C T I O N Do you remember the day you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? For some of you, perhaps it was when you were a child or a teenager. For others maybe it was when you were a young adult or even when you were older.

2 Perhaps some of you accepted Christ at Church Camp or during a Revival meeting; and for others it was following a Sunday morning worship service or Sunday evening service. Perhaps some of you were baptized in the presence of a large crowd and others of you were baptized in a private service with only a handful of family and friends present. I remember the day I accepted Christ. It was the first Sunday in April of 1964 when I was just nine years old. I remember very well my dad doing a dry rehearsal of my baptism with me in the bathroom of our parsonage that morning before Church. And I can remember how anxious I felt that morning in Church as dad came to the conclusion of his sermon and was about to lead into the invitation hymn. As we stood to sing Almost Persuaded I stepped out on the first verse and made my way down that long center aisle of my home Church. Philip Paul, one of the boys who lived just right down the road from our house joined me on the front pew as the congregation sang the last verse of the invitation hymn. After dad took my confession of faith and then Philip's, we went to the back dressing room to change into our baptismal clothes. Dad baptized Philip first as I stood at the bottom of the baptistry steps and watched. And then, just as we had rehearsed in the parsonage bathroom earlier that morning, I stepped into the baptistry my dad grabbed my right wrist with his left hand, and he raised his right hand and said, And now Reggie Allen Braziel, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Then dad put his right hand between my shoulder blades and as he slowly laid me back into the water he said, You are now buried with Christ and he immersed me under the water, and as he brought me up out of the water, he said, Rising to walk in the newness of life.

3 We should always remember the day of our salvation! Our salvation is the most precious possession we have. Our salvation is a gift of GOD'S grace, not of our own works, lest any man should boast. GOD planned for our SALVATION before the foundations of the earth were ever laid. GOD purchased our SALVATION when He offered His only begotten Son as a sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. And that great salvation became ours' when with the hand of faith we reached out and took the gift of eternal life from the nail-pierced hand of Jesus. But with that precious gift there came a great responsibility. Paul clearly states what this great responsibility is in the latter part of VERSE 12. Philippians 2:12b (NKJV) Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. As we focus on this great responsibility for a few minutes there are two key thoughts for us to consider:

4 I. What Is The Meaning of Work Out Your Own Salvation? (v.12b) 1. It is very important that we read exactly what Paul says here because one little three letter word could completely change the whole meaning. Notice Paul says WORK OUT your own salvation. He does NOT say WORK FOR your own salvation. 2. We live in a world full of people who are working FOR their salvation...people who are trying to earn enough points to get into heaven. 3. The Bible clearly teaches that none of can be saved by doing more good than bad, but because Christ paid for our sins on the cross. 4. And so what does Paul mean when he says, Work OUT your own salvation? Let's break this statement down to get its full meaning. (A) First let's consider those two words: WORK OUT. When we hear the words work out we might picture a body builder lifting heavy weights in a gym or we might think of a football player running through a series of drills in football practice.

5 When someone works out a lot its very obvious isn't it? Their body is toned and muscular, unlike the couch potato with a flabby body who never works out. What does it mean to WORK OUT spiritually? It means to FINISH what was started or to bring something to a successful CONCLUSION. You see, the day you and I accepted Jesus Christ was just the beginning of a life-long process. God desires more for us than just to be saved, He desires that we grow and mature into Christ-likeness. He desires that our faith get stronger and stronger. He desires that we learn to trust Him more and more. He desires that we show the world we are truly saved through practical expressions of our faith in our every day lives. How do we do this? By WORKING OUT our salvation. * We are to WORK at making sure our HOPE is grounded in Jesus Christ and not in our own human efforts. * We are to WORK at taking advantage of the opportunities the Lord blesses us with to SERVE others.

6 * We are to WORK at utilizing all the tools the Lord has given us that helps us GROW; like reading our BIBLE, spending time in PRAYER, and by being faithful to be in the Lord's House on the first day of each week for WORSHIP and FELLOWSHIP with fellow Christians. * We are to WORK at making a clean break from any SINFUL habits that so easily entangles us. * We are to WORK at guarding our HEARTS from the evil influences of the world that can hinder our LOVE for the Lord. The point is this: You and I can't just go HALF-WAY when it comes to our salvation. We can't think that just because we made the great confession of faith and were baptized that we can just set our spiritual life on CRUISE CONTROL all the way to heaven. Every Church roll book is filled with the names of people who didn't continue to WORK OUT THEIR SALVATION. They may have started out the race in a blaze of glory but they soon burned out and never darken the doors of a Church building. Brothers and sisters, we must continue to WORK OUT OUR SALVATION until our earthly journey has ended!

7 (B) Now let's go back and look at this command from another angle: Notice Paul says, Work out YOUR OWN SALVATION. What Paul is saying is that each and everyone of us has a PERSONAL responsibility to work out our salvation. You can't work out my salvation for me and I can't work out your salvation for you. I can preach sermons to feed you each and every week and I can teach you a Bible Study lesson each Wednesday night, but when it comes to putting God's word into PRACTICE in your daily life, that is the responsibility of each and every one of you. And it is my personal responsibility to put those things into practice in my own life as well. You see, if I am and not growing and maturing in my faith, its not your fault, its MINE! And if you aren't growing and maturing in your faith its NOT my fault or your Sunday School teacher's fault or the Church's fault, its your own fault. I can tell you to read your Bible every day, but I can't read it for you. I can tell you about the importance of spending time in prayer each day, but I can't do your praying for you. I can tell you about the importance of being in Church each Sunday, but I can't attend Church for you by proxy.

8 Just like you can tell when someone has been working out physically, others ought to be able to tell that we have been working out spiritually. They will see it in our godly virtues, and our holy character, and our Christ-like spirit. WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION! The second thing we want to consider is... II. What Is The Manner In Which We Are To Work Out Our Own Salvation? (v. 12b) V. 12b Work out your own salvation with FEAR and TREMBLING. 1. When you look at this command in the context of the verses just prior to it, it makes more sense. Paul had just declared in verses 10 and Philippians 2:10, 11 (NKJV) That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father. 2. Knowing that we will one down bow before Christ and give an account of our lives should cause us to FEAR and TREMBLE shouldn't it?

9 3. To work out our salvation with FEAR and TREMBLING means that I am to be soberly aware that living the Christian life is SERIOUS business and should not be taken LIGHTLY. (A) We must work out our salvation with FEAR and TREMBLING realizing that we are in a daily BATTLE and SATAN is going to do everything he can to stop us from growing and maturing spiritualy. (B) We must work out our salvation with FEAR and TREMBLING realizing our own WEAKNESS and proneness to SIN. We may live VICTORIOUSLY one day and live in miserable DEFEAT the next. That is why we must take heed lest we fall. (C) We must work out our salvation with FEAR and TREMBLING out of deep respect for the LORD'S DISCIPLINE. When we get spiritually lazy or we become lukewarm or complacent in our spiritual life we can expect the LORD to DISCIPLINE us! Hebrews 12:5b, 6 (NKJV) My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.

10 C O N C L U S I O N Some of you may remember the burgundy FORD F-150 PICKUP I had when I first came here. When it came time to sell that truck I placed an ad in the Carolina Bargain Trader and I got a call from a man in Kinston the very first day the Bargain Trader came out. Rather than having that man drive all the way from Kinston to look at the truck, I told him I would meet him in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Washington, so we arranged our meeting for later that afternoon. As I headed to Washington it started pouring down rain, when all the sudden my truck un-expectedly speeded up to 65...then 70...then 75...then 80...then 85 miles an hour. My cruise control was stuck! I tried shutting it off and it didn't do anything! So here I am on this four lane highway...its raining cats and dogs...i'm flying past cars and trucks as though they are sitting still...and I can't stop my truck! I was absolutely terrified! Finally I managed to get my gear lever to go into neutral and cruised into a center merging lane. Even though I came to a stop my engine was still racing like it was going to come right out of the hood. That was the first time my truck had ever done that. I told the man who came to buy it what had happened and I knocked several hundred dollars off the price and told him what to do if it happened to him. Its very dangerous to have your vehicle get stuck on cruise control. Its even more dangerous to have your spiritual life get stuck on cruise control. Are you still growing? Are you still maturing? Are you becoming more and more like Christ? Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling!