We'll unite together in prayer. We'll seek the Lord at this time. Our Heavenly Father and Eternal God, we come before Thee now to Thy Word. And Father, we pray as we read Thy Word that Thou wilt give help. And we ask of Thee, O God, that Thou wilt bless even the preaching of it. Lord, prepare our hearts, Lord, to receive Thy Word. May Christ be honoured and uplifted. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We'll turn in our Bibles to Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2 verses 12 down to verse 16. Philippians chapter 2 verse 12 down to verse 16. It will be verse 16 that we will concentrate our thoughts this morning. The Word of God says, Wherefore, my beloved, as ye 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 which worketh in you both to will and to do his good pleasure. do all things without murmurings and disputings, that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. Amen. We know the Lord. We'll add His blessing to the reading of His Word. In Philippians chapter 2, verses 14 through 16, Paul's overall point to God's people is that you live in a fallen world that is no friend to God. Therefore, in living among crooked and perverse sinners, shine the glorious gospel by your life and witness of Christ the hope within. Paul lists some ways in which we can shine as lights. He exhorts God's people, do all things without murmurings and disputings. And that is striking, that Paul should start with such words as the clear meaning is this, you live by the gospel, by word, walk and witness before men and women, who are abiding in spiritual truth, that they may come to the glorious light of the gospel to worship Christ, the only Saviour of sinners. But if there is a dullness, a distraction, or sin covering your light, hindering your shine, causing you to think, are causing you to keep flickering and the light is not clear, then you will be a hindrance to those who are lost. And in the practical sense, you know this to be true. Because when you sit in any room and the light is on, all is well. It's shining bright, it's shining clear. But when that light starts to flicker on and off, it distracts and it takes the focus away because the light is not shining as clear as it should. Therefore Paul's message is this, shine as lights in the world, in this world of spiritual darkness that ye may be blameless and harmless without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. Paul encouraged the saints at Philippi that God has begun a good work in you and will perform that work until the day of Christ. God is working out his good pleasure in your life, bringing you to salvation and then leading you in sanctification right through to glorification. And since the letter, of Philippians deals with our sanctification, then we are enabled more and more to die on to sin and to live on to righteousness by the help of the Holy Spirit to become more like Christ, to have the mind of Christ as we live in this fallen world. Another way to shine as lights in this world of corruption and contamination is found in verse 16, holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. And that leads to the thought of not murmuring or disputing to be a spiritual benefit to those around you, both to the people and to the pastor. And so with that in mind, we want to look at that today, not only as we've looked at days gone by where Paul said, do all things without murmurings and disputings, that you may be without rebuke and all those other things, but also as well now, for the people's spiritual benefit, for the pastor's spiritual benefit, that you will hold forth the word of life, that God's servant has not run in vain." And that's the two points that we want to look at today. The spiritual benefit. Notice first of all, we are not to murmur or dispute for the people's spiritual benefit. Paul said, holding forth the word of life. The phrase holding forth means to hold firm or to hold tight. The idea is to remain, to focus, to give attention, to put your mind to something and to do it. Furthermore, the words holding forth are in the continual tense, meaning this is something that you must keep doing. Keep holding forth the Word of Life. Keep holding it out. Keep firm. Keep doing it. Keep giving attention to this matter. Keep remaining on this matter. Don't budge from it, but keep doing it. Allow me to give some illustrations of this phrase. holding forth to help our understanding. Have you ever... sought to do a job, or you've seen someone do a job, whatever it may be, and you've given them a box to hold, or you've given them a torch to hold, whatever it may be, maybe you're working with electric, or whatever it may be, and you say to that person, say if I give this here to someone, and I said, right, I'm working on this, keep holding this light, keep shining that light when I'm working, and you're basically to do this, keep holding out the light until the person has finished. But if I start doing this, and doing that, and doing this, it would be a distraction. And so the whole point is, keep holding it out. And that's the point of this verse. That's what it means, keep holding forth. Have you also seen, and let me get this here while it's just down here. Have you ever watched a marathon? Or you've seen a marathon? And there's runners coming round the corner. And one thing you see on the side of the road, many people lined up with a cup of water. You've seen that, haven't you? Here, obviously, in the marathons in London. And what happens? Those people, their job is simply to just to do this. hold the cup out as people come by. And as people come by, they either take the cup or they don't. But the runner's point is to keep holding the cup. And all they have to do is stand like this until people take it. And when they take it, they get another one and they keep holding it. That's the whole point of this verse that Paul is saying. You keep holding forth. You keep giving it out. You keep remaining. Keep holding forth the Word of Life. Spurgeon said, you hold forth the word of life as men hold forth a torch. And that's the strength of these words. Keep living the gospel. Keep doing all things without murmurings and disputings. Keep shining as light. And as you do so, don't budge from it, don't turn from it, but keep on doing so. Holding forth the Gospel, remaining in the Gospel, giving out the Gospel, presenting the Gospel. Because what is it that believers are to keep holding forth? Paul said, the Word of Life. Holding forth the Word of Life. The Word of Life is the gospel message to sinners who are spiritually lifeless, dead in trespasses and in sin. The gospel is everlasting life and gives everlasting life. The Lord Jesus Christ, He is the way of life. He is the Word of Life. Again he said in John chapter 6 verse 47, Furly, furly, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. Acts chapter 6 verse 63, the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. And so when the Lord taught The words that he presented, they were words of life. When you come to hear the Word of God, you come to hear message, words about life in Christ, eternal life, everlasting life. Again, Acts chapter 5, whenever the Lord opened the prison door for the apostles to leave, He said to them in verse 20, go stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. And what were those words? Verse 42, and daily in the temple and in every house they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. And therefore, believer, you must realize that truth. The word of life is Christ. He is the word of life. He is the message of the gospel. And he is that very message, that very life that sinners need to hear and sinners need to receive. And so in this world of spiritual darkness, As you dwell among a perverse and crooked generation, hold forth the Word of Life, hold forth the Gospel, keep giving it out, keep standing there, keep presenting it to sinners in their sin, that some dear soul will come to the Lord Jesus Christ, till they be brought to faith in Him. Remember that word crooked is the word meaning sinners who are opposed to the gospel. They turn in the opposite direction. Perverse means they are ungodly, unrighteous. They deliberately defy God. On such a day and at such times, living among those who on purpose defy God, who willfully turn from the Lord, Hold forth the word of life. Keep preaching the gospel. Keep holding out the gospel, whether it's a gospel leaflet, a gospel invite. Keep shouting for the Lord Jesus. Keep holding him forth as the sinner's salvation and the believer's sanctification. Yes, you will be despised and rejected of men like the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will suffer furious persecution in all its forms. As the Savior said, men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake, or on account of your relationship with me. Because the world hates me, it will hate you. You will say like Isaiah, Who hath believed our report? Or as Jeremiah, is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Or they will shake the head of you, as they did upon Christ at the cross, where they wagged their heads at him and mocked him? But here is the point. Paul says, do all things without murmurings and disputings, that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life. Dear child of God, don't quit because you are holding out the word of life that sinners need. You're holding out the gospel for the spiritual benefit of the people. You're holding forth the gospel for those who are lost in their sin. And let me tell you this, London needs the Gospel. London needs God's people to hold out the Gospel, to keep holding forth the glorious Word of Life, to tell men and women there's a Saviour from all sin. There are souls to rescue. There are souls to save. Therefore, men and women, shine the glorious Gospel light. Hold forth the Word of Life. Dale Moody, an evangelist many, many years ago, in his antidotes, gave an illustration of two men on the boat. And he heard of a man who was very, very seasick, and he was in his room. And he heard of all this commotion, that another man had fallen into the sea. And so this man got a light. And what he did through the porthole, through the small window in his room, he shone that light into the sea to see if he could find the man. And that man was rescued. Later on, as both men were on board and up deck, the man who was saved from the water, he began to speak to the man who shone the light. And he said, I went down the first time, and I had gone down the second time, and I was about to go down the third time, not to come back again, and my hand was out in the dark water, looking for someone to save me. But as my hand was out, a light shone where my hand was, and someone could see the hand. And someone came in a boat and lifted me up and brought me to safety. And the man who shone the light, he thought he hadn't done all that much, but it turned out the light that he had shone was used to save another person's life. And therefore the whole point is this, what use is it in praying for a soul? What use is it in giving out a gospel? The use is this, the Lord is using you to hold forth the word of life, that you can make some difference in some soul. You may never realize a person has come to Christ by your ministry. That person may be in glory already. I've used the illustration before when I was at school, and I used to witness to a dear fellow in school, and you would have thought this fellow never would have got saved. And this turns out ten years later, when I had come back from living abroad and I was on the street, this car driving past, the brakes went on. And this man jumped out of the car, and of course you're wondering what's going on here now. And it turns out the man came running over to me, and he said, Philip, I want to let you know I've got sealed. 10 years later, and so I'm saying to you, there'll be people you will never even know maybe, who have you reached with the gospel. People who may be in heaven, but the point is, keep holding forth the word of life. Keep giving the gospel out. Because there's souls in spiritual danger, and they need the gospel. They're going down once, they're going down twice, and maybe some will not make it again. Therefore they have the hand reached out, and pray that God will move in power. sinners today you are in spiritual trouble and the lifeline is thrown out to you life is offered on to you hallelujah you are in spiritual danger and if you die in your sin you will perish in your sin but i'm glad today because we have the word of life we have a message from the lord hallelujah and it's a message that you look and live Is there some dear soul today lost in your sin? Oh yes, you've got religion, but you've not got Christ. You have many things, but you lack His amazing grace. You're in spiritual danger. You must come to the Word of Life this day. There's mercy with the Lord. And though your sins are many, His mercy is more. Though your sin abounds, His grace does much more abound. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. There's a Saviour from all sin. Is there one this morning you realize I'm not saved, I'm sinking in my sin, sinking to rise no more? Well hallelujah, there's one who lifts from the burden of sin and he's able to save your soul today. You hold forth the word of life. That's why Paul's saying, do all things without murmurings and disputings. Why? That you may hold forth the word of life for the benefit of others. Paul's point is this, if God's people Just keep bickering with one another. Keep fighting with one another. Keep falling out with one another. And there's disunity. God's work will not go forward. And no one will hold out the lifeline. No one will hold out the truth. Because everybody will be so discouraged and they'll not want to. So Paul's point is this. Do all things without murmurings and disputings. shine as lights and hold forth the word of life and keep doing it and you do it for the people's spiritual benefit and therefore London needs the gospel your family need the gospel and therefore keep holding forth the word of life but notice finally Also, not only are we to do it for, hold forth the word of life, not to do all things without mermaids and the spirits for the people's benefit, but also for the pastor's spiritual benefit. Verse 16, holding forth the word of life. Notice Paul says that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain." Now, these words we'll only mention briefly. But if you've noticed Paul's pattern, he exhorts believers, as we've noted, do all things without murmurings and disputings. Firstly, for their own spiritual benefit and growth in grace and their walk with God. Then secondly, do all things without murmurings and disputings, for the spiritual benefit of the lost who are watching, that they'll not bring accusation against you. And then thirdly, do all things without murmurings and disputings, for the spiritual benefit of the minister of the gospel, to encourage his heart, that he is not run in fain, neither laboured in fain. Because while we have a ministry that goes forth to others, yet we have a ministry among one another as well. Now this is not Paul looking for self-praise, a pat on the back, a pick-me-up party while in jail, nor is any other minister. Paul is simply making the point, how the congregation responds to the gospel. As presented by him in his pastoral ministry, his teaching encourages and strengthens him. His mind is fixed on the return of Christ. And Paul is looking forward to that day when he sees his Savior. That he will know that his ministry to the Philippians has been a blessing. That his words have made impact. that his preaching and writing has stirred them up to live for Christ, that his ministry to them has meant something in helping them in the furtherance of the gospel. And by the Philippians, living the gospel, Paul could say, I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. I've taught you how to live the gospel, how to have victory over sin, how to go on with God, that the things that happen in your life, it's for the furtherance of the gospel. I've taught you many lessons. And when you put those lessons into practice, I have not run in vain, neither have I laboured in vain. Why? Because the truth has got across. The message is now living. The word run is the basic word meaning to put all your energy into. When someone runs, they run at great speed. Of course, it's used in here, running in the Christian life. The word labor means to toil, to work hard. It means to the point of exhaustion, to be physically worn out, to be weary. The word fain means empty, fruitless, nothing to show. And so if you put all three terms together, Paul again uses the athletic comparison from the Greek games, where the runner runs to receive unearthly, a temporal prize. And when a prize or reward is given, the runner knows the years of hard work all the sacrifice the exhaustion it was not in vain they have a token to show for it if you like fruit by their labor it was not empty handed and so paul then relates this to the spiritual and eternal that when the saints at philippi obey the gospel as preached by Paul, and they do all things without murmurings and disputings, and they shine as lights in this perverse and crooked nation, and they hold forth the word of life, Paul can say, when I see you living for God, I know my labor among you has not been in vain. I have not run in vain. It's not been for nothing. But there's been impact. Paul could think, me leaving my homeland to come to Philippi. all the nights of prayer, and we look at that in the early days of the book of the work at Philippi, the preparation, the preaching, the writings, the persecutions, the prison sentences, it's all been worth it to see that you have the mind of Christ, that you labor together. with one mind, that you pray together, that there's unity, that you're holding forth the word of life, that you're shining the gospel. And Paul is saying, all my energy, all my life is poured into yours. You are the fruit of my labor. Remember, in the book of Galatians, Paul had taught the gospel. Now, as a side note, when we go into Philippians chapter 3, Paul will then begin to talk about those who come with a false gospel. And again, they begin to try and take the believers into false error. And so the same truth applies. When you stand up, when you present the gospel and you live the gospel among false teachers and don't go with them, then it will show that I have not run in vain. But in the book of Galatians, Paul taught the gospel to the churches at Galatia. He had taught them the true way of salvation. There's only one way whereby sinners can have their sin forgiven. Through faith alone in Christ alone. Galatians is all about justification. The perfect pardon of God. Without the works of men. We're not saved by works. We're saved by faith in Christ. It's not Christ plus baptism. Or Christ plus the church. Or Christ plus church membership. Or Christ plus anything. It's Christ alone. However, false teachers came into the churches at Galatia, the Judaizers, as they did with the Philippians, and they began to spread their false message that Christ's work was not enough, and therefore you had to do a bit more. Salvation was a bit of a mixture. between what Christ has done and what you need to do, and it was a false message. And so the Galatians, they actually began to believe this. We need to start going down this route. And so Paul said to them in Galatians 4, verse 11, I am afraid of you. In other words, I fear for you, lest I bestowed upon you labor in vain. 3 John chapter 4, I have no greater joy, John said, than to hear that my children walk in truth. And likewise, believer, you want to encourage this preacher, your pastor, or any pastor of any church that maybe someone attends who's maybe listening online. You want to be a spiritual benefit to your pastor, your minister. Then have the mind of Christ when serving. Shine as lights. Hold forth the word of life. Because I am convinced The most dangerous and the most vulnerable time for any faithful preacher and pastor of the gospel is not after each time he preaches, but right after the last service of the day, when he goes home and everyone else is gone. He is like an open wound to the devil. An easy target. His ministry comes under attack. His calling questioned. His energy drained. His mind overthinks. Maybe discouragement's that day. Maybe people have complained about that day. Maybe said something about the preaching negatively. So much so that Charles Spurgeon would have often spoke of the minister's fainting fits. Spurgeon believed that whenever God's man preached, and he described it this way, virtue had gone out of him. In other words, he gave his everything in preaching that he was drained. And so such can bring times of depression, because it brings the minister at his weakest point. And then when there's all the discouragements, the criticism, then he goes home. And at that time, many of God's servants, due to feeling their own weakness, their own lack of ability in the pulpit, they resign, or they give up, or they go into despair. As stated in our own Easter Convention, in our own Bible College, the Whitfield College of the Bible, the lecturers are those who are serving ministers, or some who have just previously retired. Why is that? Because whenever they teach their lectures, they then give their pastoral experience. So it's not just someone thinking of what the ministry is like. Here is what it's like. That's why Spurgeon again, and I'll use a couple of Spurgeon thoughts, and what is told in our Bible college, Spurgeon always taught his men, if you can do anything else except go into the ministry, do it. only go into the ministry if you believe God has called you and there's nothing else you can do. But if there's something else you can do, then you should do it. And that is still taught today at our own Bible college and the same point that Spurgeon when he taught his students He taught them from experience. I make this point because I remember asking one of our lecturers, one of our ministers, we were talking about preaching and different things on the Monday morning. I said to him, did you ever feel like giving up? And he said, yes. And we said, when? And he answered, every Sunday. And that's how he felt. Every Sunday, he felt like giving up. So Paul is saying, when I write to you, when I teach you, I put all my energy into you. But when you don't live the gospel, whatever terms you want to use, I can illustrate it more. But Paul says, when you don't live the gospel, Then I have laboured in vain. Or is my labour in vain? Again, how did Isaiah fail? Isaiah 49 verse 4. Then said I, I have laboured in vain. I have spent my strength for naught and in vain. Why is that? Because the pastor, the preacher has done everything. When a man gets into this pulpit, he has done everything the devil is against. He's preached the blood. He's preached the book. He's preached the blessed hope. He's exalted Christ, the only saviour of sinners. He's lifted up the one who defeated him and sealed his doom. He has sought to strengthen God's people, because remember, the devil wants the church to murmur and dispute because if everybody starts arguing with one another and no one gets along with one another then nobody will do the work of God together and nobody will hold forth the word of life and so Paul is saying be in union serve together serve with one another don't murmur don't complain we've realized we understand none of us are perfect we're only sinners saved by grace therefore Don't murmur, complain. Hold forth the word of life. Shine for the Lord. In other words, don't do the devil's work. Do the Lord's work. And therefore, the preacher who has taught sinners to look to Jesus Christ for full salvation. And he has taught all these truths, and he continues to do so until Christ calls him home. He is under great attack. And therefore, child of God, when you labor, when you attend the services, It's a great encouragement, and I say that sincerely. And I know there's people here who travel a long distance and take three or different tubes, and for those who have been able to get to houses and different things, and I've seen the journey you take, I say thank you in the Savior's name. But we made this point a few weeks ago. We used this illustration today of that dear man who just held forth a torch and didn't realize how big of an impact Today in churches, you sitting where you are is such an encouragement to God's people, even to this pastor. And therefore, keep coming under the sound of God's precious Word. Keep sitting under the truth of God's Word. Keep being blessed by the Word of God. Then the preacher can say, I have not run in vain. Neither have I laboured in vain." The preacher looks forward to hearing those words. Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Therefore, until the day Christ returns, keep holding forth the word of life. Paul in this section is teaching God's people, don't be at war, don't murmur, don't dispute, don't complain, because nothing will get done. Don't do it, but instead shine the gospel, hold forth the word of life and be used by the Lord. We do it for the people's spiritual benefit, for those among us. And we do it for the pastor's spiritual benefit as well. We're all looking after one another. And therefore I pray today, if you are not saved, that you will come and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. That you will receive Christ as your saviour, because just to change the words in a sense or change the illustration, if you believe your good works will get you to heaven, or your culture will get you to heaven, or some tradition will get to heaven, I will tell you this, you will have run in vain, and you will never enter into heaven, because only those who enter into heaven are trusting in Christ alone, in Him truly. And I trust today that you will come and receive Him as your Savior, for His name's sake, amen.