"Not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence-continue to 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". Philipppians 2:12.13.
Paul wrote these words to a local congregation. The pronouns used to are plural to indicate that he was exhorting all of the people. He wanted the Church in Philippi as a whole to do the will of God to "work out" God's purpose as He "Worked in" their own lives. Each local Church must follow this example and work out the ministry God places before its membership. Although all Churches are alike in some respects, in others they must necessarily be different. Every parish has a special purpose to fulfill in God's time by God's power and for God's glory. It is dangerous to imitate one pattern or other because what is successful in one place may not be successful elsewhere.
No congregation can "work ort" this diving plan unless the divine power is "worked in". God works in His people only when they yield to Him and genuinely want to do His will. He works in us when we pray, when we worship Him and when we open our hearts and minds to His Words. Christian service does not really mean that we work for the Lord, But that He works in us and through us to accomplish His plan.
This raises and important question. How can we know that when God is at work in our fellowship? In the verses from Philippianas Chapter 2 Verses 14 -18 Paul answers this question by giving us four salient characteristics of the Church in which God truly is at work.
1. There should be an attitude of reverence that leads to obedience. "Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation". If people are serious about the things of the Lord, there must be a genuine and sincere desire to know God's will for the Church and then having discovered it-to do it "with fear and trembling.". It is this fear and trembling which drives us to seek God and brings us ver closer to God, in the certainty that without His help we cannot effectively face life at all. When God is at work in our lives we want His will more than anything else and we do His will because we love Him and long to glorify Hmm.
As we read the Scriptures we discover that God's servants have all along recognized the seriousness of their calling. They did not take lightly the responsibility of serving the Lord. If we are careless and indifferent about our ministry it is a sure sign that God is not really at work. If we lack the fear and trembling that ought to accompany Christian service then it is certain that we end up in spiritual defeat.
2. There is harmony among God's people. "Do everything without murmuring and disputing". When the Lord is at work in our midst we will stop murmuring and disputing among ourselves. Instead we will be praising Him, rejoicing at the opportunity for serving and doing all we can to help and encourage one another. "Murmuring" was one of the chief sins of Isracl as they journeyed to the Promised Land. The people murmured against their leader Moses. In spite of all blessings God gave them, they grumbled about the way He led them and the way He fed them. Instead of looking by faith into the future, they repeatedly wanted to go back to Egypt. The good things done for them either by God or Moses were not acceptable to them. When God is at work in our midst there is no ground for complaints. Instead we should give thanks for all He does for us. Paul warns the Corinthian Christians not to imitate Isracl and mummer against the Lord (1 Coritnt. 10:10).
3. We will have a clear witness to the lost. Is it not the major ministry of the Church to witness to a lost Wordl? If all we are doing is just serving our own membership and maintaining an institution then God is not truly at work among us.
4. We live in a distorted world and the Church must be "straight" when it comes to godly living. Standards have been so twisted by society today that it is difficult to get people to commit themselves to what is right and what is wrong. God's people, as the Authorized Version has it, are to be blameless, and harmless and without rebuke. The purity of the Christian must be such that it will stand even the scrutiny of God. It must be such that it can be offered like an unblemished sacrifice to God.
5. We must be shining lights in a dark world, "in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation". Too often the Church is a mirror that only reflects the world around it, when the Church ought to be a beacon light that illuminates the darkness and reveals the Lord Jesus Christ. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven (Mat. 5:16).
6. When God is at work, we become faithful witnesses, "holding fast the word of life…….". We live in a distorted world, a dark world-and in fact a dead world that desperately needs God's word of life. If God is working in and thorough us, we will undoubtedly be faithful witnesses to the cleansing, saving and reconciling, saving and reconciling message of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
7. And finally we will rejoice at opportunities to sacrifice for the Lord. (V.17,18). The two verses are about sacrifice-and yet Paul mentions the idea of joy four times. The image here is that of the priest offering " a drink offering" along with the burnt offering. Just as a cup of wine-symbol of life- is poured out for God, Paul rejoiced at the opportunity to pour out his life for the sake of the Philippian believers. They were the burnt offering and he was the drink offering.
8. The well known British preacher John Henry Jowett once said "Ministry that costs nothing accomplishes nothing". If our service for the Lord is casual and easy, then it cannot be considered as service at all. When God is at work in us, there is a price to pay, and we surely rejoice in paying it! Our concern should not be for ourselves, but for others.
9. What a great privilege it is to have God at work in us and through us. What a tremendous responsibility it is! Let us take spiritual inventory to make sure that these four characteristics are found in our service for Christ. Do we have an attitude of reverence and obedience? I there harmony among us as we serve together? Do we have a strong witness to the lost? Are we willing to offer our lives as sacrifice to the One who gave himself and died for us on the Cross for our redemption?