Hello and welcome. This is the letter to the Philippians from Word Online. Welcome to this fourth episode in Series 1 as we study the wonderful book of Philippians.  

Recap and Background 

If you were with us for the last episode, you will remember that it featured an incredible early Christian hymn that Paul wrote out - a hymn about the greatness of Christ, who came from glory in heaven, right the way down to become a man and died on the cross and then the amazing resurrection and ascension back into glory. Paul was using this to illustrate how we should be humble in our Christian lives. I want to pause for a moment because this early Christian hymn is worth thinking about and also the kind of worship that took place in those early churches where they sang hymns, like the one in Philippians 2: 5 - 11. Paul gives us a little glimpse into the worship of the Early Church. Starting in Colossians 3:16, which says,  
 
Small churches were meeting in homes, maybe 10, 20, or 30 people gathered together, worshipping. They had received the power of the Holy Spirit; they believed in the gifts of the Spirit. They were starting out on the Christian journey. What kind of things happened? They sang a lot. They sang ‘psalms’ which was probably a reference to the Psalms of the Old Testament, the Psalms of David that the early Christians adopted and started singing as some of their first songs. Paul also said they sang ‘hymns’, by which he meant that the early Christians began to write their own songs soon after their conversion. Philippians 2: 5 - 11 is an extract from a Christian hymn written in the very early stages of the Church by somebody who had experienced the amazing salvation of Jesus Christ. Paul said they would not only sing Psalms and hymns but also songs from the Spirit, which means songs that happened spontaneously as people were filled with the Holy Spirit in those meetings and started to sing out in praise to God. It wasn’t written down; they had not sung it before - it was a spontaneous song of the Spirit that was sung to God.This is the kind of thing that happened in early church worship. Singing together was a very important part of learning the Christian faith; people learned their theology as much from singing the hymns and the Psalms as they did from the preaching. At that stage they didn't have the New Testament books, unless they happened to have one of Paul's letters in their hands - like the letter to the Philippians. They just had the Old Testament. The hymns and the Psalms were a very important part of the learning process. 

We see another example of this in 1 Corinthians 14: 26,  
 
They were singing and worshipping fairly informally; and someone might say, 'I'll sing this hymn'; or they might start singing a particular hymn.  

The Philippian Hymn 

Paul was talking about one of these amazing early Christian hymns in Philippians 2: 5 – 11. I am going to read it again, even though we studied it in the last episode, because then I am going straight into the next few verses because they all fit together. 
 

Living Out the Christian Life 

These are quite famous words. What does it mean 'to work out your salvation in fear and trembling' in the light of everything that Christ has done for us? Paul not only focussed on people becoming Christians, which was incredibly important - on preaching the gospel, winning converts, baptising them, discipling them, teaching them the truth, and inviting them to receive the power of the Holy Spirit. He focussed a lot on that, but his letters frequently tell us that it is very important to live your life as a fully committed disciple of Jesus. ‘Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.' This seems a strange expression. Why should we be afraid? Why should we tremble? We have got our salvation; we have been made righteous in Christ. Surely everything is fine. Everything is fine for our salvation but God has given us a responsibility to live for him, to dedicate our lives to him, to change our priorities so that his priorities are our first priorities. 

Paul teaches elsewhere that at the Day of Judgement, when Christian salvation is certain because of the work of Christ, there will also be an assessment by Christ of how we lived our lives, of our faithfulness. He says this very clearly in several different places. Here is a very good example: 2 Corinthians 5: 10. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." Even believers will appear before the judgment seat of Christ. There will be two things of concern: First of all, is your name written in the Lamb's book of life? Everybody who has received Christ, who has been born again has their name placed in the Lamb's book of life to guarantee salvation. But then if we are saved, Christ will also want to know how we lived our lives. Paul makes it clear that for some Christians, that will be an uncomfortable moment because they did not live consistent lives as believers. 

 He says in 1 Corinthians 3 :14, "If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it's burned up, the builder will suffer loss and yet will be saved even though only as one escaping through the flames," If we waste the opportunities of the Christian life, we won't receive glory at the time of salvation; we won't receive the Father's commendation saying, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.' It will be a moment of purification – of the sober reality, of facing the fact that we wasted the opportunities that God gave us. 

'Saved only as one escaping through the flames' - somebody escaping a fire, running out of a fire, a narrow escape, everything behind them burnt. That is the image Paul uses to describe that situation and what he means by working out your salvation with fear and trembling. We have a responsibility to live our lives for Jesus and to use the opportunities that we have. God does not expect us to do things we cannot do and don't have the opportunity, or the skills, or the time, or the resources to do. He certainly doesn't expect us to do anything other than the things that we have the opportunity to do in our lives. That is what we should be doing because we are following Christ. He was willing to serve before he received glory, and the Christian life follows this pattern. When you are saved, you enter a period of service, which is often a period of humility and of self-sacrifice. The honour and glory that comes to you, comes in eternity when the Father commends you and says, 'Well done. You did well with the opportunities that you had.' 

I remember talking to an elderly lady of 75 or 80 years of age, many years ago in a church I was in, who had just been widowed. She was all on her own. She had a very sad period of her life. She said to me, 'Well, I haven't got very much of this life left, but I want to use the opportunities I have to serve God.' The one thing she had was a nice home that she and her husband had developed which she could share with other people. and then he died quite suddenly. She invited groups of people all the time and opened her home. I was one of those people who received the hospitality of this home. That was all she had to offer: she wasn't a leader; she didn't have much energy; she didn't have much spare money. She sat in the church meetings and worshipped God, but she opened her home. Everybody has some opportunity to serve God and that is what Paul wants us to take up, and to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. 

No to Grumbling or Arguing

There are things here that Paul tells us in terms of how to live our Christian life effectively in the community of the local church. He starts by talking about not grumbling or arguing. Grumbling is complaining privately; arguing is complaining publicly. Some people always find fault with the situation they are in - always finding fault with other people, with other Christians. Paul warns us against this.This attitude takes away the energy of the church and leads to tension and suspicion between people which means that our mission is much less effective. We need to control our emotions when things are difficult, or we disagree with people, and handle it very carefully - not starting up trouble but dealing with conflicts and difficulties responsibly and humbly.  

What is the alternative to grumbling and complaining and arguing? Paul has an antidote to this - rejoicing and being glad and being thankful. One of the main themes of the book of Philippians is rejoicing in God and thankfulness. Paul consistently encourages the Christian community to think of things to be thankful about, and to focus on thanksgiving towards God because this always changes the way we think about other people around us and other frustrations that we feel if we are just thankful for the things that God has given us. It is incredibly important to spend time thanking God. You can even thank God for the people you find difficult.You can thank God for all the blessings in your life. You can thank God for the certainty of your salvation. You can thank God for the health that you have, for the family you have, for the situation you have. This is the alternative to complaining and arguing. 

Being ‘Blameless’ 

Paul says that we should be 'blameless'. Blameless does not mean sinless.  There is no Christian who lives without sin in their life. Sin will always be with us until we are perfected when Christ comes again and we receive the resurrection body and enter into glory. Until that time, you and I will be battling with sin, but Paul encourages us to be blameless - not having any obvious sins in our lives; seeking to live positively; no negative talk and criticism; no violence and control of other people; fulfilling family responsibilities; working hard in our jobs; and being really committed to the local church; and caring for the poor. By being blameless he means being very active in your Christian faith.  

There were many of Paul's friends in the Early Church who could be described as being blameless. One example is a couple called Priscilla and Aquila who Paul worked with. He met them in Corinth, and then he travelled with them to Ephesus. Later they moved to the city of Rome, and Paul lived with them for some time. This couple ran a business - a leather working business. They used their home for the church meetings; they provided finance for Paul; they provided hospitality for Paul; they were pastoral leaders in the church with Paul – an amazing couple. There are many people like that around Paul – very active in their Christian lives; they were the blameless people, the people who had no obvious sin. The best way of avoiding sin is to be active in your Christian life, to be living for the Kingdom, living for the things that God has called you to do. That guides you away from falling into sin. It is the Christians who are passive, who are focussed on their own pleasures, who get themselves into trouble and their lives become unproductive. 

Holding Out the Gospel 

Paul also says in verses 15 and 16, that we should 'hold out the gospel'. We hold onto the truth, and we hold it out, so that other people can see the truth. His view of discipleship is not just about good relationships in the family and good relationships in the church; Paul's view of discipleship is about communicating the Christian message - the gospel – and passing it on to other people. This is a very important responsibility that we have, and we should be working this responsibility out, with fear and trembling. We should take full responsibility for the people we may have opportunity to share the faith with: how we are going to share the faith with them? What should we do, how should we communicate with them, and when should we communicate with them? That is a big responsibility. The Holy Spirit can lead us in that responsibility. 

Paul says two things here of great importance: hold onto the gospel and hold it out to other people. The first thing is, you have to maintain your real belief in the power of the gospel and not fall into the idea that you are saved through your own works of righteousness - your own good works. Paul consistently reminds his churches of the amazing grace of God that leads us to receive salvation and to be forgiven.That is what he was speaking about in the hymn that he quoted that we studied in the last episode. We hold onto the faith, the gospel, and then we hold it out to others. The Christian Church is publicly proclaiming Jesus Christ and his message, and we are responsible to share that message whenever we have that opportunity. Paul was doing this as he was writing these words. He was there under house arrest in Rome: he couldn't go anywhere; people came and went - groups of Jews came to see him from the synagogues; groups of Christians came from the church in Rome; the soldiers came and went who were guarding him and other officials from the Roman authorities; and maybe his neighbours came in and out while he was there. Paul consistently told them why he was in prison and what he believed. He held out the truth to other people. 

I remember when I was preparing this episode and writing my notes a few months ago, immediately I had finished working on it, the next thing I had to do was some business in a shop. I sat down to talk to the person I was dealing with, and immediately they asked about what I was doing, and what my work was. I found that I was holding out the gospel to them. Within just a few minutes of finishing writing this episode, it was my job to express my faith, to talk about Jesus, to talk about his salvation to the person in that shop. That is your job too. 

 Steadfast in Trials 

verse 18. “So you should be glad and rejoice with me." Why? verse 17. “I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith. And I'm glad and rejoice with all of you." 

Paul is describing here the fact that his life is probably draining away; he's an old man; he's in prison; he's awaiting a trial. The likely outcome of that trial carries the risk that he will lose his life for his faith. It is important to calculate that as you become a Christian. In many countries, especially many free countries and democratic countries in the world, people don't make that calculation because it appears so very unlikely. But in the Early Church, it was always a possibility. The Church has been filled with men and women who have made the same calculation as Paul. 'I'm going to follow Christ even if it gets me into difficulty with the authorities, even if it gets me into prison and even if it gets me executed.' 

By the time Paul wrote this, he had been in prison, or travelling under guard by ship, for somewhere between four and five years approximately. He knew what it was like to be confined, imprisoned and in danger, and yet he was absolutely steadfast in his views. He was not going to step back; he was not going to change his mind; nor hide his loyalty to Jesus Christ. 

In our world today, many people face the same type of challenge that Paul faced when he was in prison in Rome and writing to the Philippians. Let me tell you one story, from a country in which the church has experienced much suffering in the last few decades and that country is Iran. In 1979, when the Iranian revolution took place, an extreme Islamic government took over that country, which is ruling up until the time of recording this episode, in 2024. They were very firmly opposed to the Iranian church and tried to close down many churches and stop Iranians becoming believers. Despite this fact, many hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Iranians have during that time found Jesus to be the Messiah. Some have paid the price very heavily. When the revolution came, the first Iranian Anglican Bishop of Iran, Bishop Hasan Dehqani-Tafti's life was threatened, and together with his wife, was the subject of an assassination attempt. They were shot at and nearly killed. He was forced to leave the country with his wife. Shortly afterwards, the following year, in 1980, his son Bahram was working in Iran, and some assassins followed his car, forced him into a remote place and shot him dead. His father was now in exile and his son, a young man in his twenties, had been killed for his faith.The father wrote, 'Through their crime, we now follow more closely in the way of sacrifice." He let his son go; he had realised the cost of faith was the risk of the loss of life. Some years ago, I attended a service of memorial in London, in the UK, to remember the Iranian martyrs, including this young man, Bahram. Around the world many Christians are facing extremely difficult situations, and you may be one of them as you are listening to this episode. Let this book of Philippians be a real help to you in your discipleship as you enter into the thinking of Paul - the man who was looking death in the face and yet was filled with thanksgiving and rejoicing and confidence in eternal life, and was equipping the Church and believing that even if he died, the Church was continuing to spread and to grow. 

Reflections 

'Working out your salvation with fear and trembling' is an important principle. I invite you as a reflection, and as an application of this episode, to think again about how you live your life and what your priorities are, and to enter in a prayer-time of talking to God and asking the Holy Spirit: have you got your priorities right? Are there things that he wants you to do? If you sense there are things that he wants you to change, and new things he wants you to do, I encourage you to follow those through. 

My second application is to compare complaining and giving thanks. Let me encourage you to focus on thanksgiving. Find the things that you can thank God for in your life, and you will be amazed at how many they are. Thank God every day as much as you can for as many things that you can think that he has given you.