If you're not already there, go ahead and turn back to Paul's letter to the Philippians. We'll be just picking up where we left off this morning with verses 14 through 18 of chapter two. If you're, again, using one of the chair Bibles, you can find that on page 981. You remember this morning that Paul called you to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. You saw that that was a call to diligently obey the Lord with reverence and awe, to be diligent. about stirring up the grace of God that is in you by making diligent use of God's means of grace for you. And you were told why, why it is that you need to be about that. You're reminded that you will give an account to Christ for how you live. Did you live a worthy manner of life as citizens of heaven? And a helpful distinction was made in the Sunday school class. And just a helpful reminder is you will not stand before the throne of the judgment seat of Christ for judgment and condemnation. But you will give an account as a child of your father, as a servant to a perfect master, as a citizen before the king. And you are told, perhaps most importantly, how you are able to obey the Lord. For God it is, Paul says, who is working in you, the willing and the working. So with that recap, we're going to read 12 and 13 as well, just for context, just to get the full sweep, because we'll draw on it as we go through this evening. So with that here now, God's word, we'll start the reading in chapter two, verse 12. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence, but 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 work for His good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the Word of life so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me. So having just called you, look back with me at verse 14, having just called you to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, He goes on now to call you to do all things without complaining and disputing. And here, complaining, it means to express discontentment or to express dissatisfaction and hear the word for disputing, and I'm gonna say the Greek word, because I want you to just hear it in the word. It's the word dialogismos, and you can hear it in the word dialogue. Dialogue. It's the Greek word from which we get our English word, dialogue. And it can refer to either internal dialogue, the dialogue that you have with yourself in your own heart and mind, or it can refer to external dialogue that we have amongst one another. And in and of itself, it's a neutral word. It can refer to either positive and constructive dialogue, or it can refer to negative and destructive dialogue. But as with its overwhelming use in the New Testament, Paul's using it here to speak about negative dialogue. That's seen clearly in the fact that he calls you to do all things without dialogue. He's not saying do all things without discussing and conversating amongst one another. So he has contentious dialogue in mind. And you can think of chapter four of Iodia and Syntyche and the problems, the dissension that is brewing amongst them. So it's contentious dialogue that Paul has in mind. And to understand better what Paul is calling you not to do, I want you to think of the overarching theme of the book of Philippians, because it gives us the context for understanding all the parts. And we could say the overarching theme of Paul's letter to the Philippians is that of unity in the midst of hostility. Unity in the midst of hostility. That's why Paul is writing to the Philippians to foster, to repair, to recover unity in the midst of hostility. And so in that light then, understanding these words in that context, the complaining that was beginning to creep into the Philippian church by the indicators in the letter was due to the fact that they were beginning to become discontent with their current situation, which more and more was being characterized by suffering and persecution. And this is seen in the fact that significantly more than in any other letter, Paul uses the word for joy. He's calling them constantly to find joy in the midst of the suffering and hostility. In chapter one, verse 29, we mentioned it this morning that Paul makes the profound statement that suffering is a gift from God. And then over in chapter four, Paul speaks about, he goes out of his way to speak about his own ability to be content in whatever situation that he finds himself in. And then underneath all the major sections of the letter, Paul's constantly drawing on that pattern of humiliation now unto exaltation later. And then the word that Paul uses here in the Greek, it's the same word used of the grumblings and the complainings of Israel in the wilderness in the Greek translation of the Old Testament. You see, their complaining, their grumbling was beginning to become reminiscent of Israel in the wilderness. The Philippians were beginning to become discontent with life in the wilderness. And Philippi, in Paul's day, was a Roman military colony. They had received what was called the Italic right, which just meant that Philippian soil was Roman soil. To be a Philippian citizen was to be a Roman citizen. It was to have all the rights and the privileges of a Roman citizen. And the point just being that life was decent. Life was decent if you were a citizen of Philippi. And so as these citizens of Philippi were being transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light and being made citizens of heaven, they were starting to lose some of the comforts of that decent life. They were starting to face suffering and persecution. So they were beginning to become discontent with their situation. Like Israel, in the wilderness there was this desire to go back. An earthly mindedness was starting to creep in. And then the disputing, the contentious dialogue that was beginning to creep in, again by the indicators in the letter, was due to selfishness, to selfish ambitions specifically. that was beginning to creep in. You see that in chapter 2, verses 3 and 4, where Paul calls out selfish ambition. And then we see the link explicitly between selfish ambition of the heart and contentious dialogue amongst one another in Luke chapter 9, verses 46 and 47. There were told that a dispute, a dialogism, arose amongst the disciples over who was the greatest. And then that Jesus, knowing the thoughts, the dialogism, same word in the Greek, of their hearts, were told that Christ went on to give them a lesson. in humility. So you see that selfish ambition of the heart breeds, it overflows into contentious dialogue and contentious disputing amongst one another. And so with the link with Israel in the wilderness, we could say that the Philippians complaining had primarily, and on the surface, a God-word orientation. They were discontent with their providential situation. And then the disputing, as we saw from the example of the disciples, primarily, and on the surface, had a man-word orientation. They were disputing amongst one another. As I've been hinting at in the definitions and the descriptions of both the complaining and the disputing, they're both rooted in the heart, which means that ultimately both of them primarily have or ultimately have a Godward orientation. For if you're complaining, brothers and sisters, if you're expressing discontentment, about your situation, if you're disputing, if you're quarreling amongst one another, what you're revealing is that you've got a heart that is first and foremost at conflict with God. What you're revealing if you're doing these things is that you have set your heart, you have set your desires on other gods. You've created idols. in your heart. For if you're complaining in the way that Paul's talking about, if you're expressing your discontentment, your lack of joy in whatever situation you find yourself in, unable to be joyful in the Lord, what you're revealing, like Israel in the wilderness, is that the comforts or the things of this world have become your gods. If you're disputing If you're quarreling amongst one another, then what you're revealing is that your own way, your own ambitions have come to rule in your heart. And that in the moment you're doing it, that you're quarreling with one another, you're revealing that you have sat down on the throne of your heart. And in that moment, no one, not even God Himself, better challenge your wisdom or your authority. If you're doing these things, if you're complaining, if you're disputing, in that moment what you're revealing is that you do not have a heart that is in love with God and with neighbor, but with world and with self. So in what ways are we tempted to do these things? How do we most often complain and dispute today? Well, first I have to say that often we're most tempted to complain by all the things that are going on around us and specifically COVID is still going on. We can complain about COVID and all its implications and the changes that have been made in the world. And Paul's not talking about here. He's not saying that you are not allowed to express your disagreement with immoral or irrational practices or policies. But if the things of COVID in this world are enabling you to be happy, to be joyful, to find your contentment in the midst of them, then Paul's saying that that is sinful. If you're complaining about what's going on in the world is rooted in that kind of heart. It is sin. We're tempted to complain about the political world. Who's in power? Is it this party or is it that party? If only it was this party that was in power, then I would be content in life. We're like the Philippians, and it's starting to increase. in our culture today. They were beginning to complain and become discontent because some of the comforts of their past decent life were beginning to disappear and they were beginning to face suffering and persecution and hostility. And it's increasing in our country. And so if and when it continues to come our way, it is not something, as we even spoke about this morning, to complain about. It's actually something to find joy in. And just taking the general principle that Paul's applying here, of just expressing discontentment with our situation, we can do it with our work. If only I worked here, or if only I had this kind of wage, or if only I had this position, or if I had gotten that promotion, then, then I could be happy in life. Then I could be content. We can complain about the things that we have. in this life, about our homes, about where we live. And you see, these are desires, brothers and sisters, these are desires that may not be sinful in and of themselves. It's not bad to desire to be able to provide for your family. But if it becomes inordinate and it causes you to be unable to be joyful and content, you see, if only I lived here, then I could be happy. Paul's saying that's sinful. And expressing that discontentment is sinful. We can complain in our marriages and in our families. If only my spouse would be like this, then, then I could be happy in my marriage. Then I would be content and satisfied. That's sin. We can dispute. We dispute with one another over a lot of the same things. And again, Paul's not saying that we cannot have discussions about contentious issues. He's saying we can't contentiously dialogue. We cannot contentiously dispute and quarrel about those things. We cannot allow COVID and the policies, et cetera, to cause dissension in the body and quarrel and dispute about it. We can dispute over political theory, philosophy, et cetera. And we can even do it over doctrine, over the things of God that should bind us together. And it's so ridiculous that when we do it, we're not even quarreling with one another over core doctrines and issues. We're out here in some third tier issue, tearing one another apart over something that out here, it's out here on the web. And so you can see it's the same heart. It's the same heart as the disciples in Luke 9. That selfish ambition over who was the greatest. Except in our case, when we're disputing, it's who's right. It's who's right. I mean, we could picture something being written about us. Ah, a dispute arose amongst His disciples over who was right. Over who was right. We can tear one another apart. So I'd ask you, is there some situation, is there something in your life that you have been expressing discontentment about, that you have been complaining about to others? Maybe secretly in your heart, you're harboring discontentment and complaining. Have you been disputing with a brother or sister in this congregation quarreling about something? We can send this way against unbelievers in our workplaces. So if you have church, take it to the Lord, take it to the Lord, take it to your brother or sister, take it to that unbeliever and confess your sin. repent and ask for their forgiveness and pray. Pray to the Lord that if and when these sinful affections crop up, that he would press and expel those sinful affections with your from your heart, with an increased love for him and for your neighbor. Paul continues, he goes on in verse 15 to give the purpose, to give the purpose for obeying the command this morning and for obeying the command of verse 14. He says, do all things without grumbling or disputing so that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish. So you see, the purpose of you obeying the Lord with fear and trembling, doing all things without complaining and disputing is so that you may become children of God without blemish or without fault, you may see it. And again, like we did this morning, notice clearly what Paul is not saying. He is not saying do these things so that you may become children of God. For you become children of God through adoption by faith alone. But he says that you may become children of God without blemish or without fault. And these three words that he uses here, blameless, innocent, without blemish, are all basically synonymous. Together, if Paul's piling them up, basically means that you may be children of God who are above any warranted insult. Children of God above any warranted insult. He says, in the midst, in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life. In some of your translations where it says, holding fast, you may see it as holding forth, holding forth. And that's the better translation here, because the analogy Paul's drawing, the illustration of comparing you to lights shining in a dark sky, lights shine forth their light. And so it's holding forth in the sense of displaying. Holding forth in the sense of displaying. And as we talked about in the CE class, this is where the participle of means that I told you about. was gonna come in. So it's really, it's by holding forth or by displaying. It is Paul's telling you how it is, how it is that you shine forth. You shine forth as lights in a dark world by displaying the word of life. And the word of life just is that word, that message that is life, that brings life. It's the gospel. And to paraphrase Paul up to this point again, drawing on this morning, saying, in light of the fact that you must stand before Christ and give account, and because God is at work in you, willing and working, You are to continue to diligently obey, to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, doing all things without complaining and disputing so that you may become children of God without blemish in a dark world amongst whom you shine as lights by displaying the gospel. So you see that Paul's concerned in our text. He's concerned with the Philippians witness. He's concerned with your witness in the world and specifically with your life witness. So here's where we see he's drawing on Daniel 12.3. You remember when Daniel said, at the last day, those who were wise, that means those who were wise who walked in the ways of the Lord, those who led many to righteousness will shine forth as stars. He's also drawing on the Lord's words in Matthew 5, 14 and 16, where Christ says that not just at the last day, He says, even now, matter of factly, even now, he says that you are, you are the light of the world, and so therefore, so let your light shine before men that they may see your good works, life witness, and therefore may glorify your Father in heaven. You see, Paul is saying the same thing. He's saying the same thing. He's saying, as you display the word of life in your life, you shine forth as lights in the world. And so do it, do it, display the gospel in your life by working out your salvation with fear and trembling and doing all things without complaining and disputing. For if you complain, if we complain, if the world sees us complaining, then what we're telling the world, what you're telling the world if you do it, is that God is not good. No matter what you say you believe, if you're expressing discontentment, then you're telling the world that I don't really believe that God is good. You don't really believe, you don't really believe that God works all things for the good of his people. At minimum, at minimum, if we do this, what we're telling the world, Is that even if I believe that God is good, he is not. He is not good enough for me. I must have something more for you. It must be something else from the world to make you fully content. If we're complaining, that's the message we're sending. It must be God plus the world to make us content. And you could never imagine saying such things explicitly to somebody. And yet implicitly, if we're complaining, that's the message. That's the message that we're sending. If the world sees you disputing, disputing amongst one another. If you're disputing in the workplace or in public, contentiously disputing, then you're distorting the gospel of the humble-minded Savior. Again, He emptied Himself, took the form of a servant, was nailed to a cross for your sins and laid down His life for you. If we're disputing, we're distorting that gospel. Paul, he ends verse 16. He goes on to end verse 16 to say that the purpose, the purpose of their obedience, the purpose of their becoming children of God without blemish, Paul says, is so that so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain." That be proud, it's really to have a reason or grounds for boasting. So Paul is saying that their obedience, their becoming children of God without blemish, so that in the day of Christ, he may have a reason to boast, to glory, to rejoice, because on that day they will be the proof. Their becoming children of God without blemish will be the proof that Paul did not run or labor in vain. Unless we think this is any sort of selfish or prideful boasting on Paul's part, we would do well to remember his words in Romans 15 verse 18. Paul says that I'm not going to speak of anything. I don't want to speak of anything other than what Christ has accomplished through me by word and deed to make the Gentiles obedient. For Paul knows, he knows that the same God who is at work, willing and working in the Philippians is at work in him for his gospel purposes. So yes, We will see Paul the Apostle boast in glory in the day of Christ, but it will be utterly selfless. It will be boasting in the Philippians, boasting in others, boasting in Christ and to the glory of Christ. After looking forward to the future, Paul ends in verses 17 and 18 by drawing things back to the present. I want you to notice that we've got an if-then, an if-then statement in verse 17, an if-then conditional statement. Paul says, even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, insert then, then I am glad and rejoice with you all. And that language of being poured out, it's used one other time by Paul in 2 Timothy 4 verse 6, where there he says, I am already being poured out and the time of my departure is near. And there he's referring to his imprisonment that at that point in time he is certain is going to result in his death. So you see for Paul, being poured out is a metaphor for a trial that is going to lead to death. But notice again, Paul doesn't say here, I am already being poured out, but he says if, if I am. So why does Paul state it in the way that he does? He's doing it to make a point. He's doing it to make a point. For he's saying, even if I am, and let's assume for the sake of argument that I am being poured out, that this is the end of the road for me, and I'm being poured out to death on the sacrificial offering of your faith. He says, in this, I rejoice. And here, the sacrificial offering of their faith is just that living sacrifice of their faith-fueled life of obedience, service, and suffering, which characterized the Philippians as a whole. As Paul's saying, he says, even though, and it's clear in the book, that he is certain he's going to get out. He said, even though I believe I'm going to get out. He says, even if this is it. He said, I rejoice, I'm glad. You see, for Paul to suffer and die, for Paul to suffer and die for the gospel, For Paul to suffer and die for the work of bringing others to the point themselves of being willing to suffer and die is utter joy, is utter joy for Paul. So the point he's making is that of Philippians 1.29. Suffering is a gift of God. It is not something to be complained about. But it's reason to rejoice. It's reason to rejoice. Now, in light of Paul's language, in light of the language Paul uses throughout the passage, it's clear that he's continuing this thought of imitating Christ that he started in verse 5. We were called to have the same mind in you that Christ has in him. Brothers and sisters, when Christ came, what was He called? He is the light of the world, the light that shone. He is not merely a child of God, but He is the Son, the Son without fault. He did not merely pour out His life alongside the living sacrifice of your faith, but He poured out His life unto death as a substitute for your sins. You can't imitate Christ in that. But you're called to imitate Him as His redeemed, to imitate Him. He walked this earth and He did not complain. about a single thing. He was content under his father's will, content to live under the truth of Deuteronomy 29, 29, under the revealed will of God. He found joy in his father. He didn't dispute with anybody in all kinds of debates and discussions. He didn't quarrel once. He was without sin. And he calls you to imitate him. to do all things without complaining and disputing, to let your light shine before men, that your Father in heaven may be glorified. So let us pray that God would help us in this. Father in heaven, we do. confess to you that we so often slip into complaining. We so often, Lord, before we can hardly even know that we're doing it, set our hearts so on things of the world that we just were unable to even be happy, to be content until we possess that thing. Father, help us to put those sins to death, to find our contentment and our joy and our happiness in you and in communion with you, in your promises. Father, we ask for your forgiveness for our quarrels, the murderous thoughts we have amongst one another over our desires and our ambitions to be right. Protect us from these things. For we know the dissension and the division that they can cause in the body. Father, it causes your name not to be glorified as it ought to be in the world. So forgive us for this and help us. And we pray that you would so shine your light in our hearts that we would shine forth the Gospel, that we would display it in our lives in the way that we live and pursue holiness, the way that we guard our tongues, the way that we confess our sins of heart to You, the way that we speak to one another in love and understanding. Father, we pray Pray that You would so work in us. Pray that You would help us to be mindful of these things this week as we will face constant temptations to complain, to dispute with people about things. Guard us from sinning against You. Cleanse us. Cleanse us from these hidden stains, O Lord. Bless us, we pray, in Christ's name. Amen.