Living as a Child of God

Well, this morning we have a very timely message in front of us. We're going to be looking at Philippians chapter 2 verses 14 through 16, a section coming out of Paul's communication of Christ's humility and his challenge or exhortation to the body of believers in the

Church of Philippi to humble themselves and to think highly of one another.

But he says something really beautiful in this passage of Scripture, and he refers to the

Philippian believers as children of God, that we as redeemed, regenerated sinners are identified as family members, as brothers and sisters, co -heirs with Jesus.

The reality is that we wouldn't be children of God if there wasn't a resurrection.

And so this morning we can see in this passage Paul's thinking here as he continues this challenge of how they should be living with one another, treating one another, and all of this in the context of Christ's humility and his example in both his humility and exaltation.

So, I was tempted to kind of think of a resurrection Scripture, think about what book

I would want to preach from, but in God's sovereignty we see right before us in this reference to not only being children of God but also that they would be prepared for the day of Christ, another resurrection reality.

We want to think about the resurrection and the reality of Christ giving up his life and then taking it back up as something that we need to consider and live by every day that we are still here on this earth, not just one day a year.

But this particular sermon is very practical because it's based on Paul's acknowledgment that there are issues within the church, and he gives a strong command here.

And so I've titled today's sermon, Living as a Child of God, Living as a

Child of God, straight out of the passage, chapter 2, verses 14 through 16, and I'll be reading today out of the

Legacy Standard Bible. The letter of Paul to the Philippians, chapter 2, starting with verse 14,

Paul says, Do all things without grumbling or disputing, so that you will be blameless and innocent, children of God, without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to boast, because I did not run in vain nor labor in vain, living as a child of God.

Parents raise their kids to be obedient to them, to obey them, and to obey them with a happy heart, to not be whiners and complainers, but to be grateful and obedient children.

And we can think about that, do the children always live up to that? I'm trying not to look at my son in the first row.

If you're a parent, you understand this desire for your kids. If you're not a parent, you may not have experienced this yet, but surely thinking about being a parent, you would want this for your children.

And here's the thing, whether you're a parent or not, you have experienced this on the other side because everyone in this room was a child at some point, being raised by a parent.

Whether biological or not, there were guardians or parents in your life that helped raise you.

As a child, you did not always obey. As a child, if you obeyed, you didn't always do it with a happy heart.

As a child, you spent many days being ungrateful and whining and complaining.

Sometimes, as children of God, believers struggle with being grateful. And if we're honest, we all struggle with not obeying perfectly.

We struggle with not obeying with a joyful heart, to have joy in Christ, and we struggle with grumbling and disputing.

Just like the early church, these Philippians, these believers, these saints, as Paul identifies them, they struggled there too.

And so that's why Paul had to write what he wrote in this letter, in this particular section. In today's passage, the

Apostle Paul gives an extremely strong yet encouraging command so that you can live your life practically as a child of God, doing all things without grumbling and disputing.

Because of the gospel, it means that we can be lights in a dark world. Doing all things without grumbling or disputing because of the gospel means we can hold fast and we can be prepared for Christ's return.

The outline this morning is one command and two outcomes. One command and two outcomes.

The command in verse 14, the consequence in verse 15, and the commitment in verse 16.

One command and two amazing outcomes that encourage believers to live as children of God.

And in verse 14, we'll see the command. The command. Paul says, do all things without grumbling or disputing.

The verb in this verse is the word do. This is a strong imperative command.

This is not do it if you feel like it. This is not do it if you agree with everything.

This is not do this if you're in a good mood and everything is going your way.

This is do it. Strong imperative command. Not optional, but a divine command.

And the Greek word is very broad and encompasses many different meanings and nuances. And it's not different in English.

The English dictionary has five distinct meanings of this word with approximately 30 variations of nuance, whether the verb involves an object or not, or if it is formal or informal.

If this is an imperative command, we need to pause and contemplate what

Paul is saying here. You don't want to read this simple word do and assume you get it.

No, since this is a call to action, we need to be crystal clear what the action is in relationship to grumbling or disputing.

Really two of Christian believers' favorite activities, grumbling and disputing.

I was practicing my spiritual gift of grumbling this morning as I was telling some of the folks about a new vehicle

I bought that had some issues. And here I have this wonderful provision from God to be able to have a car and I'm complaining about it that they didn't fix it right or something.

I said, I need to go reread the passage before I preach this morning. Yeah, we love to grumble and dispute, but let's not read past this simple word.

Let's pause and dig deeper that we may live out this most holy and serious command. One usage of do in the

Greek is the idea of producing something material or to make. It can be human activity or divine activity like God's action in creation.

Human activity is close, but we are not making anything here, so no, that doesn't seem to fit.

Another common usage is to undertake or to do something that brings about an event, state, or condition.

And this is one of the most common uses, but it still doesn't quite fit with the command to not do something. Considering scripture and the use of the verb in the

New Testament, it regularly can mean to carry out an obligation of a moral or social nature.

Think of keeping the law or being obedient. So we're getting closer, but something is still missing.

Paul is not simply commanding us to keep or to do the law. How about this?

To do something to others or something as behavior involving others.

Think of some indication of the person or thing with whom something is done, the action that may result to the advantage or disadvantage of another person.

And we can look at the context of the passage in Philippians chapter two, verses one through five.

He's talking about them having the same love, being united in spirit, thinking on one purpose, not doing anything from a selfishness or contention, but actually having humility of mind regarding one another is more important than themselves.

Not only looking out for themselves, but looking out for the interests of others. And he says, have this mind in yourselves, which was also in Christ.

So this is where we are at. This is it. Paul is talking about how we are to be with one another.

Do all things toward one another without grumbling or disputing. And even look at chapter two, verse three, do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves.

Do you see it? Because you need to see this. You need to do this.

Grumbling is literally an utterance made in a low tone of voice. The context indicates whether the utterance is one of discontent or satisfaction.

This is behind the scenes talk, a tearing down talk.

That is the opposite of edifying speech. This is a bad habit of the tongue.

This is a disgusting habit. And that's a habit Paul says you need to break today.

Leave it. Mortify it. This is a very grievous affront to God. And we can even look at a supporting scripture here.

Consider 1 Corinthians chapter 10. He says that the Old Testament had examples for us.

Nor should we put Christ to the test as some of them did and then died from snake bites and don't grumble as some of them did and then were destroyed by the angel of death.

These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.

Paul paints a warning here in 1 Corinthians in the Old Testament account from the book of Numbers as he references the grumbling of the

Israelites against Moses and Aaron. In this section of Numbers, we see a few things happening.

They have just been rescued out of Egypt, out of bondage in Egypt, and as the Israelites are wandering in the wilderness, they're saying, we don't have anything to eat.

At least in Egypt, the fish were free. What about the onions and the garlic and we desire,

I'm hungry, I want to eat. And so they're grumbling against Moses. Why did you bring us into the middle of the desert just that we would die of starvation?

And they're really not grumbling against Moses. In their circumstance, who are they grumbling against?

It's God. And even later in the narrative, we see that they're lacking some provision.

They don't like that God has appointed Moses over them, so they're grumbling against His leadership.

Said we should just find our own leader and then we could go back to Egypt. And then even later in the narrative, they don't have water.

And again, they're arguing with Moses. They're disputing with Moses and saying, we don't have anything to drink.

Why did you bring us out here to die? Why don't we all just go back to Egypt? You think, what are these people doing?

They live through the signs, the 10 plagues, everything that happened. And they want to go back to that?

They don't trust God in the middle of their circumstance? They're grumbling against the appointed leadership that God sovereignly put over them.

And later, we get a window into what God was doing there. Remember, God remains in sovereign control over everything that we go through in this life.

And in Deuteronomy 8, we get a window into what God was doing. Moses, speaking for Yahweh, says this, thus says the

Lord. He says, I'm the one that took you into the wilderness, that I would humble you, that I would test you to see if your hearts were really for me.

I'm the one that kept you without food. I'm the one that kept you without water. Because I want you to know, it says that he would make them know that man does not live on bread alone, but every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

God was in it. God was doing something. And so this is just this supporting scripture that helps us think about that.

Paul says those things were written down as examples for us who live now in the end of the age.

Do not grumble, Paul says. And so we can look at the next word, disputing,

Philippians 2 .14. This disputing Paul is referring to is a verbal exchange that takes place when conflicting ideas are expressed, to dispute or to argue.

And this is not healthy debate. This is argument. And just think about this for yourself.

Are you the kind of person that always needs to get your point across? You hear something subjective that there is no 100 % consensus about, but you need to make sure everyone knows what you think.

If another person doesn't agree with you, then you argue until they agree.

Argument for the sake of self -exaltation. It's okay if they disagree as long as they know you are right.

It's okay if they disagree as long as they know they are wrong. And this ought not to be how we behave as Christian brothers and sisters.

I'm sure that doesn't describe anybody sitting here. No, Paul is saying, do not engage with this behavior involving others that utters discontent in behind -the -scenes talk or argues in conflict to get your personal win in an argument.

What should we do instead? Well, what he wrote to Timothy is helpful, 1 Timothy 2 .8, in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling.

Angry attitudes and controversy among believers are displeasing to God. And it's important to consider the biblical idea of anger is a slow burning within.

Two Greek words in the New Testament are translated as anger. One means passion or energy, and the other means agitated or boiling.

This is a slow simmering heat that hides within. Wrath is the outburst, the yelling and raising voices.

Anger is the cold shoulder, slow stewing heat and buildup that is simmering right at the edge.

It has an element of controlled wrath that a person keeps inside and won't allow to surface outwardly.

This is an inner angst and wrath. There's almost an element of deception. This kind of stewing anger directed at other believers may turn into contempt when it's finished cooking.

Anger and controversy amongst believers can make relationships difficult. One way to think about this is praying for someone that you have an issue with.

Praying for someone you feel anger towards makes it difficult to stay angry with them.

Our relationship with others is important. Jesus said that we should interrupt our worship to make peace with others.

So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go.

First, be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift.

That's the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5. Do you see the urgency? Paul is commanding believers in verse 14 from our passage.

Grumbling and disputing is off limits. All things, no exceptions.

God wants you to obey him immediately and completely. There is an immediate and thorough act of obedience here.

Should not your goal be to have a right relationship with God and also with others?

Why are complaining and arguing so harmful? This goes back to Paul's request of humility in the preceding verses.

There is a correlation to having a lack of humility and the grumbling and disputing that manifest from that.

Humility results in regarding one another highly. Lack of humility results in arguing for your own rights.

If all that the unbelieving world knows about a church is that its members constantly argue, complain and gossip, what does that say about the church?

What does that say about the gospel? Grumbling and disputing are more than a lack of humility.

This kind of behavior is an attack on the gospel. The world will get a false impression of Christ and the good news if they observe professing

Christians engaged in this behavior. Belief in Christ should unite those who trust in him.

If a group of professing Christians have a pattern of always complaining and arguing, they lack the unifying power of Jesus Christ.

No church, no group of believers should have this kind of reputation. So what is

Paul saying? Stop arguing with other Christians or complaining about people and conditions within the church.

This goes for all of us, every one of us, me included. We all have this in us.

You know what will happen if we listen to Paul today? We will let the world see

Christ. Instead of bringing a reproach against Christ, we will glorify

God in Christ. One command and two amazing outcomes that encourage believers to live as children of God, the command, do everything in your life without complaining and arguing.

And the first outcome, the consequence, verse 15, the consequence, so that you will be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in the world.

The word for blameless conveys exceptional merit. It's the idea of being blameless in holiness.

The same word is used in Hebrews 8, 7 when Paul writes about the Mosaic covenant. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.

In verse 15, Paul is conveying the concept of being without fault. We can know he's talking about being without fault in holiness because the word he uses to convey innocence is actually the word for purity.

Paul is saying, avoid complaining and arguing so that you may be without fault in holiness and pure.

The verb here is the word be, sometimes translated as the word prove. Here it literally means to prove to be, to turn out to be, to be.

Paul is talking about coming into a certain state or possessing certain characteristics. The person that does not complain or argue proves themselves to be without blame or fault and to be morally pure.

And this is exceptional moral purity in behavior. Think of the example of Zechariah and Elizabeth, the parents of John the

Baptist from the Gospel of Luke. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the

Lord, Luke 1 .6. This is a stunning implication. Paul is connecting holiness and purity with an attitude and practice in life that does not grumble or complain, that does not argue or dispute.

Remember, in the context of this section, we are still connected to the humility of Christ and Paul's command for the believers to have humility of mind.

How do you have humility of mind? How do you practice humility of mind?

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. Do nothing from selfishness or vain glory.

Don't be a contentious person. Don't complain. Don't argue. A habitual pattern of grumbling, complaining, disputing, arguing reveals a self -seeking attitude.

Paul is continuing his command here to have the Christ -like attitude of humble humility.

And let's pause and get the context back here. Look at verses three through five of this chapter.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or vain glory, but with humility of mind regarding one another as more important than yourselves, not merely looking out for your own personal interest, but also for the interest of others.

Have this way of thinking in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus.

Everything he's saying after that is under this theme, the humility of Christ.

Let's follow Paul's logical flow of thought. Look at verse 15 in light of verse three.

There's an obvious parallel in these verses. One may observe that this section is

Paul's application of verses three through 11 from chapter two. The parallel is that both are actions.

This is about doing so that you will be, so that you will prove.

Paul says, proving yourselves to be children of God. Having become children of God, live this way.

And this is not intellectual knowledge. This is practical instruction, action, doing.

And we see this same teaching in Paul's letter to the Ephesians. In Ephesians five,

Paul wrote, therefore be imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

I love thinking about this idea of being children of God. Here we see the doctrine of adoption.

What does it mean to be children of God? When thinking about the idea of being children of God, we must consider this amazing doctrine, adoption.

I found a helpful definition or explanation of adoption in Dr. Kevin Zuber's book,

The Essential Scriptures. Zuber writes, adoption is an act of God along with the other aspects of salvation whereby he makes one who was an enemy, his child and a member of his household.

The scripture has a lot to say about this teaching. From Galatians chapter four, because we are sons,

God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts. Paul writes in Galatians four, verses four through seven, he says, but when the fullness of time had come,

God sent forth his son born of woman under the law to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons.

And because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts crying

Abba father. So you are no longer a slave but a son and if a son then an heir through God.

That's adoption. It's an act of God. And there are several aspects of adoption and we could spend several sermons, many many sermons on this teaching without exhausting all of the implications.

But I think before we move on, I want to highlight some of the privileges of adoption. Again, Dr. Zuber is helpful here.

He says the privileges of adoption are a new and intimate familial relationship with God as a loving father, the right to address him as Abba father, the care and compassion of God as father, the loving discipline of our father, and the joy of a new family relationship with other brothers and sisters in Christ.

This adoption is our present legal standing. Listen to what he says.

But the full experience of this adoption will be realized when we experience full and final redemption and the resurrection of our bodies.

As those who are adopted, we are his children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.

We may suffer with him but that is so that we may also be glorified with him.

What an amazing reality. And so it gives us a better perspective on verse 15, the consequence.

We see in verse 15 another of Paul's use of contrast in his thinking, the term without blemish is similar to blameless with a little nuance.

It's one word in the Greek. It's the idea of being without defect, pertaining to being without fault and therefore morally blameless, usually used to describe the

Christian community. But it's about characteristics. As in characteristics in action, characteristics in living, behavior.

It's about living as a child of God. And Paul is talking about living above reproach.

But look at the contrast. Living as children of God in a crooked and perverse generation.

And sometimes translated crooked and twisted, Paul is talking about being morally bent or twisted, to be crooked, unscrupulous or dishonest.

Not just morally bent, but he gives us a conjunction here. Morally bent or twisted and the idea of causing to depart from an accepted standard of spiritual values.

This is a spiritual issue. He is saying crooked or perverted spirituality.

The children of God are the opposite. He drives home the contrast by saying that we as believers, what do we appear as in this world?

We appear as lights in the world. And lights here is a word literally used for a light -giving body like a star.

It means light -giving heavenly bodies. So Paul is using a beautiful word illustration to describe

God's people in stark contrast to the spiritually perverted and morally bent of this generation.

He's talking about the sum of those living as unbelievers at the time of his writing. Spiritually, are we any better in our contemporary time?

In our contemporary culture, are we any better off than this culture that he was writing to 2 ,000 years ago?

This is spiritual darkness. We see many similarities in our society. We live in a contemporary culture of ungodliness, unrighteousness, lusts of the heart, impurity, immorality, debased minds, and the list could go on and on and on.

I'm limited by time to describe the depths of depravity today. The question of whether we are any better spiritually is obviously rhetorical.

The answer is no. This letter and Paul's example of a morally bankrupt, immoral society applies today in our modern context, maybe more than when he wrote this letter.

And Paul says believers appear like lights in the darkness.

He is saying we shine as luminaries or stars in the world.

This is Scripture's description of believers. You are a natural, light -giving body in a dark world.

You are a person who may inspire or influence others to see the truth.

Why? How does this happen? The why and the how is answered like this.

You can do nothing apart from Christ. You are a sinner saved by Christ.

So why or how can you be a light shining in a dark world? Because you are a child of God.

You have the mind of Christ. You have the Holy Spirit. You have the Word of God. And now it's time to start living as a child of God.

Your life should be characterized by moral purity. Your life should be characterized by moral patience.

But think about verse 14. Your life should be characterized by moral peacefulness.

All our lives should be characterized by purity, patience, and peacefulness. Every Christian life.

Why? So that we will shine like bright lights in a dark and depraved world.

To be a witness to God's power. To shine the light of the gospel into the darkened minds of the unbelieving world.

A transformed life, born again in the Spirit of God, is an effective and unstoppable witness to the power of God's Word and the gospel.

One command and two amazing outcomes that encourage believers to live as children of God.

The command, do everything in your life without complaining and arguing. The first outcome, the consequence.

Living without complaining equals blamelessness and because of the gospel, you can be lights in the world.

And the second outcome, the commitment. The commitment. Verse 16. Holding fast the

Word of life so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to boast because I did not run in vain nor labor in vain.

Paul is literally saying, holding forth the Word of life. Of course he's talking about the

Word of God. The Holy Scriptures. This is a clear reference to the gospel. The gospel is the

Word of life because it makes known to us eternal life through Jesus Christ. He's communicating to the

Philippians to maintain a tight grasp on the scriptures. To hold it tightly.

Hold on tightly to the gospel. And notice this first phrase of verse 16 is a parenthetical statement.

It's describing the action of living as lights in the world. How do you live as a child of God?

By holding a very tight grasp on the Bible, on the Word of God. The common meaning of the

Greek term of holding forth means literally so applying it. So applying it.

Paul is talking about application. He's talking about living. Now Paul ends his thought by concluding his motive for their benefit in living as children of God.

He concludes that their lives, their living will prove that Paul's life was useful to God.

Remember in Philippians chapter 1 verses 21 through 26, Paul gave the reason for his life.

For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain, yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake and convinced of this,

I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith.

Paul exclaimed that living for Christ is truly living and that dying is an even greater gain because believers will be with Christ.

And this knowledge is the motivation to mentor and disciple fellow believers for their spiritual growth and joy in their faith in the

Lord Jesus Christ. Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he gave his disciples the great commission and instructed them to make disciples of all the nations, of all people groups.

And Jesus clarified what that means. His first is baptism and then teaching them to observe all that he commanded.

The passage from Philippians shows that Paul took this charge very seriously.

Paul could be proud of his life because of the Philippians living. His labor found meaning in their lives.

And consider Paul's motive for laboring, the spiritual progress of others. Paul is living out the command of humility in chapter 2, verses 3 and 4.

Paul could look at his life with accomplishment because it was a life sacrificed for the good of his brothers and sisters in Christ.

And the idea of being proud here is not in Paul's own accomplishment. This is a selfless,

I don't get the credit kind of pride. When he says he'll have reason to boast, he is referring to the act of taking pride in something, not oneself.

He is saying, I can boast in their living as children of God. Ultimately, Paul gets no glory.

Who gets the glory? God the Father, God the Son, and God the

Holy Spirit. Another example of Paul's motivation, the future glory, the return of Christ, the resurrection.

Paul's motivation is Christ's return from the start to the finish of this letter. His mind and heart are saturated in being with Christ.

And we need to look at the reference to the day of Christ. So, what is Paul talking about here?

Well, the phrase day of Christ is not the same as the phrase day of the Lord from the Old Testament. We can see the prophet

Isaiah wrote about a day when God would judge the earth. He writes, behold, the day of the

Lord comes cruel with wrath and fierce anger to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it,

Isaiah 13, 9. And this warning was not exclusive to the Old Testament.

Paul wrote about this as well and reminded believers in the early church of the timing of the day of the

Lord. He says, now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you, for you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the

Lord will come like a thief in the night. When people are saying there is peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman and they will not escape, 1

Thessalonians 5, 2. What Paul is referring to in our verse from Philippians is the final salvation, the reward, the glorification of the followers of Christ.

Now, once you're saved, you're saved. So, when we think about that term, it's not that there's a later salvation, you're in Christ, you're saved.

We're talking about glorification here, the future time with Christ. And so, that's an important distinction because there is no condemnation in Christ for the one who has entrusted his soul to the

Savior. Verse 16 does not refer to judgment or condemnation. 1

Corinthians 1 is helpful here. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you so that you are not lacking in any gift as you wait for the revealing of our

Lord Jesus Christ who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our

Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of his son,

Jesus Christ our Lord. See the difference? Yeah, this is about glorification and reward, about being with Christ.

As we look forward to the day of Christ drawing nearer and nearer, it should give us hope. This is the reason we can live as children of God.

And we see the connection from chapter 1 verse 6 to chapter 2 verse 16. 1 6,

Paul would say, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

It's Christ working in you. God gets the credit from start to finish.

Christ's return should motivate us to emulate Paul and live as children of God. And two questions for application here.

Just think about this. Are you shining brightly or are you clouded by complaining and arguing?

Don't let disagreement that leads to disharmony between things and people extinguish your light.

Contention will snuff out your gospel light. And Paul is saying the opposite.

Shine out for God. Your role as a genuine spirit -filled follower of Christ is to shine until Jesus returns and abates the world in his radiant glory.

We must remind ourselves of these truths to see God's greater purposes in our daily adversities.

We need to see the power of the word of God as the answer to why we face adversities.

The reason this is so critical is that we can change direction from complaining to worship when we change our perspective back from unmet desires to the richness of the provision of the gospel and the promise of the future glory.

This is Paul's main theme in this letter. The future glory. Let's take a little trip through Philippians so I can illustrate this point for you.

So that you may approve the things that are excellent in order to be sincere and without fault until the day of Christ.

Chapter 1 verse 10. For I know that this will turn out for my salvation through your prayers and the provision of the spirit of Jesus Christ.

119. But I am hard pressed between the two having the desire to depart and be with Christ.

For that is very much better. 123. Holding fast the word of life so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to boast because I did not run in vain nor labor in vain.

Chapter 2 verse 16. More than that I count all things to be lost because of the surpassing value of knowing

Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish so that I may gain

Christ. Chapter 3 verse 8. That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death.

310. In order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 311.

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

314. Therefore my brothers loved and longed for my joy and crown in this way stand firm in the

Lord my beloved. Chapter 4 verse 1. Indeed I ask you also genuine companion help these women who have contended together along side of me in the gospel with also

Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life.

Chapter 4 verse 3. Let your considerate spirit be known to all men the

Lord is near. 4 -5. This letter is about the future glory.

It's about a promise in the gospel. A sin free glorified body transformed into the body of his glory.

That's the reality that we have to consider and think about and have in the front of our minds and Paul's really telling us here how to do that and how to just simply not grumble and dispute about things and not grumble and dispute with other

Christians. One command and two amazing outcomes that encourage believers to live as children of God.

The command do everything in your life without grumbling without complaining without disputing without arguing.

The first outcome the consequence the consequence living without complaining and arguing equals blamelessness and because of the gospel you can be lights in a dark world.

And the second outcome the commitment the commitment a non -compromising devotion to the

Bible and the gospel so that you are ready for the return of Christ and we can even see this in a gospel connection.

Let's consider the high priestly prayer of Jesus. Praying this about his disciples he says the glory that you have given me

I have given to them that they may be one even as we are one.

I in them and you in me that they may become perfectly one so that the world may know that you sent me and love them even as you loved me father

I desire that they also whom you have given me may be with me where I am to see my glory that you have given me because you love me before the foundation of the world.

This is a promise for every person that trusts in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

And I don't know where everybody's heart is here but God does. If you have not trusted the

Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior I appeal to you today to do that not tomorrow because you don't know what's going to happen tomorrow.

You're promised this day you're alive today you don't know if you're going to be alive tomorrow. Trust your soul with the one who saves

Jesus Christ. Turn away from sin and return to the Father repent and believe in the gospel.

That's Jesus talking about those who are his. Are you a child of God?

Are you a child of God? Living out Philippians chapter 2 verses 14 through 16 means living out or displaying the gospel.

Christ prayed that believers be perfectly one in love so that the world would know

God the Father loves believers even as he loves the Son. Christ prayed that believers be perfectly one in love so that the world would know

Christ was sent by the Father. This is a gospel issue. The believer's responsibility for active and continual pursuit of obedience is part of the process of our spiritual growth our own sanctification.

Your obedience comes after your salvation because the source of your sanctification is from God.

Your eternal salvation is provided by God. Your sanctification is enabled by God.

The Spirit gives you the desire and the power to do what pleases the Father.

This is only possible because of the gospel. This is Christ -like obedience, a

Christ -like changed life. Belief in Christ should unite those who trust in him.

We should never have a pattern of complaining or arguing. That kind of pattern signifies that there's some kind of a lack of power in Christ.

There's not a unifying power in the gospel that the Bible says there should be.

Angry attitudes and controversy among believers are displeasing to God. The world will get a false impression of Christ and the gospel if they observe professing

Christians engaged in this behavior. The person that does not complain or argue proves themselves to be without blame or fault and to be morally pure.

In this passage, Paul is connecting holiness and purity with an attitude and practice in life that does not grumble or complain.

We live in a modern culture of ungodliness and immorality. Debased minds is the norm of the day.

In contrast to the world, Christians should be characterized by moral purity, moral patience, and moral peacefulness.

That is how you can be a witness to God's power. You are to shine the light of the gospel into the darkened minds of this unbelieving world.

A true follower of Christ is an effective and unstoppable witness to the power of God's word.

As we look forward to the day of Christ drawing nearer and nearer, this is the hope that we can rely on.

This is not some whimsical fantasy hope. This is a tangible, real hope that we can hold on to.

The promise of the sin -free, glorified, resurrected body. This is the reason you can live as a child of God.

Your role as a genuine, spirit -filled follower of Christ is to shine the light of the gospel until Jesus returns, and he will bathe the world in his glory.

We must remind ourselves of these truths to see God's divine purposes in our daily living.

In today's passage, the apostle Paul gives an extremely strong, yet encouraging command so that you can live your life practically as a child of God.

One command and two amazing outcomes that encourage believers to live as children of God. The command, do everything in your life without complaining and arguing.

The consequence, living without complaining and arguing equals blamelessness, and because of the gospel, you can be lights in a dark world.

The commitment, a non -compromising devotion to the Bible and the gospel so that you are ready for the return of Christ.

And let's look at what the Lord says about this, lights in the world. You are the light of the world.

A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light.

Give light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men so that they may see your good works and give glory to your

Father in heaven. From the Sermon on the Mount, our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.

The resurrection of Jesus is a truth we must hold on to tightly.

The resurrection is an historical reality that affects our spiritual reality today.

As we look forward to the return of Jesus and the promise of the transformed body that is glorified and where sin is absent, this promise for the future will affect the way we live today, the way we live now.

Doing all things without grumbling or disputing, because the gospel means we can be lights in a dark world.

Doing all things without grumbling or disputing, because of the gospel means we can hold fast and be prepared for Christ's return.

Heavenly Father, God, thank you so much for this day. Thank you, God, for this Word, an amazing example of your grace and kindness to us, your instruction to us as a father to a child.

God, you keep our way. You are the one who saved us. You are the one who continues to sanctify us, and it is because of your great loving kindness and mercy and compassion that we are saved.

And so, God, we thank you this morning for the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ. We thank you for the historical reality of the resurrection and the promise of a sin -free, glorified body transformed into the body of His glory, our

Lord, our Savior Jesus. I pray that you would put these truths deep into our hearts and that you would help us to be obedient as,

God, we are your children, that you would enable us to live this out today, that we would not be those who are marked as grumblers, those who are marked as arguers, but,

God, help us to have a peacefulness, and I pray that you would develop in us a bond of affection and unity, a love for one another, and so that,

God, we would display Christ through our lives and our words, our thoughts, and our actions, and that as the world looks upon us, they see a genuine love for one another, they can see that we are truly followers of Christ, and that we can proclaim that,

God, you sent the Son into this world, and that the unbelieving world would look upon Him, as you have said, that they would know

God and they would know the Son and have eternal life. I just pray for this body here,

God, that you would do a work in their hearts in salvation and sanctification for your glory and for the good of your people this day.

We pray in the name of our great God, our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.