Well, again a good morning to all of you. It’s amazing that we are now at the end of the year. I think when we first started the year there were much apprehensions. The cases were going up, went into a lockdown, and it appears that it was not going to end. I think by now we are kind of learning to live with the virus to some degree. And we really want to thank the Lord that He has seen us through this past year despite the challenges and the difficulty, especially for us as a church to be able to continue to gather during this time. I think for, I suppose most part of it, I think in some form we were able to gather physically.

And so we want to end this year by again turning to the Word of God. And we are moving away from our usual series. We’re not coming back to our series yet, perhaps till next year which is in two weeks’ time. And so for this morning for our meditation as we come to the end of the year, I want to draw your attention to Paul’s letter to the Philippians. So let us now turn to Paul’s letter to the Philippians and chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2.

Now I’d like to draw your attention to just two verses here and that is verses 12 and 13. Some of you might be familiar with this text; some of you perhaps are not. But I think there is something that I thought we should want to meditate upon here in this text. Philippians 2:12-13: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have 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 who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”. Let us pray.

“Our dear Father in heaven, as we now come and open up Your Word, we pray once again for Your enlightenment. We pray that the Spirit of God may open up our eyes to see this wondrous truth and to help us as we meditate on this truth, that we might see Your will for us. And therefore, we commit the rest of this time unto Your hands. We pray and ask in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Now here in this passage here, Paul is exhorting us to work out our own salvation. And so this morning, we want to meditate upon this subject of our salvation. Paul is talking about salvation, but what about salvation? You see in the Bible, now the Bible sometimes speaks of salvation as a one-time act or as an act in the past. Now turn with me for example to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians in chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2, and here in verse 8. Verse 8 of Ephesians chapter 2, now Paul writes about salvation. And what he writes about is this. Verse 8, he says by grace: “For by grace you have been saved through faith”.

Now there Paul is talking about salvation as something that happened in the past. He tells the Christians that they have been saved. So sometimes in the Bible, the Bible speaks of salvation as something that have been. So you have been saved. For by grace you have been saved. At other times, the Bible speaks of salvation not as been saved but as being saved. As being saved. For example in First Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians 15:2. And verse 2. In fact, in verse 1 it says: “Moreover, brethren, I (remind you or) I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received (by which or) in which you stand”.

Then it says: “by which (that’s by the gospel) also you are saved”, and that is you are being saved alright the idea. And some translations, that “you’re being saved”. See, so sometimes the Bible speaks of salvation as have been saved and sometimes as being saved. Now what Paul is talking about here in his letter to the Philippians in Philippians 2:12 is about the latter. Therefore, it’s important to see that in Philippians 2:12 Paul is not talking about working for your salvation. He’s talking about working out your own salvation. He is talking about salvation that you already have. It’s not a salvation that you do not yet have.

Perhaps for some of you this morning, the first is what you need to know about salvation, about being saved alright in a sense that you need to be saved. Perhaps you do not have your salvation yet. You see, the assumption in this verse is that these people have salvation. And therefore, he writes to them about their own salvation. You have your own salvation. Do you have your own salvation? Now if you have not, then you are not a Christian yet. You may be coming to church. You may be doing a lot of Christian things, but you are not a Christian yet because you are not saved yet alright you have not been saved. And so what you need to know is how to be saved.

What must I do to be saved? And that is the great question that you must think about this morning. And so before we look at this, now I want to speak to you who perhaps you are still wondering whether you have been saved. Then you need to ask how to be saved. And again you look at the Ephesians 2 passage. You see, what Paul writes there in Ephesians chapter 2, I told you just now that Paul tells them that these people in Ephesus that they have been saved. And the way they were saved was by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. And so that is the way to be saved. And you see, that is what you need to know. And you also need to know that the reason why you need to be saved.

Now some of you might be wondering what we are talking about being you know that you need to be saved. Now you also need to know that the reason why you need to be saved is because you are under the wrath of God. I’m not sure how often you think about that. Whenever you hear of God, what is the association? What do you think about, about God? Perhaps you think about the love of God, perhaps you think about the kindness of God. But you see, when Paul writes here in Ephesians chapter 2; when he writes to the Ephesian Christians, he was reminding them that they have been saved by grace through faith and that they have been saved because they were under the wrath of God in verse 3.

And so you read here in verse 3 Ephesians 2, he says that you know what is before you were saved, he tells them you were in (verse 1) “dead in trespasses and sin”. And then in verse 3, he says that you were among he said: “Among whom we also all once conducted ourselves (or lived in a manner in living) the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. And he says: “and were by nature children of wrath”. And so he says the reason why we need to be saved is because we are all under the wrath of God. He tells them we are in danger of wrath.

Now, this is a constant thing Paul talks about again and again. Perhaps not a lot of people, but for Paul is a huge issue. For Paul, it’s an important thing that we should know. So here, therefore, is not the only place he reminds people of that danger. Some of you might remember when he wrote to the Romans he said the same thing. Remember what he said in Romans 1:18? Romans 1:18, and this is what he writes. He said: “for the wrath”. Wrath here refers to the anger, the same thing he was talking about in Ephesians 2:3 that we are children of wrath. And so he says that “for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness”.

See, Paul again as I said earlier that he emphasises on this truth about the danger that we are all in. We are under the wrath of God. And Paul said this is not a light matter. That is not something that we want to you know avoid or not think about. In fact, that is something that we should think about. And I want to end this year for those who throughout this year perhaps have been thinking about many things, many dangers before us, the danger of our health danger, and so on. But this is the great danger that the Bible wants us to think about again and again. And so when the writer to the Hebrews in the letter to the Hebrews 10:31.

Hebrews 10:31, and listen here again to what the Bible says. It says the reason why we need to think about God and our relationship to Him and the fact that by nature we are all children of wrath under the wrath of God, it’s because he says in verse 31 that: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And so for that reason, the Bible emphasises that if you have not been saved, now this is something that you have to think about and think about seriously because otherwise, we are in this great danger to fall into the hands of an angry God.

Now this morning here in Philippians, I say Paul is not particularly thinking of those people. And perhaps for the majority of us here, and I hope it is for all of us this morning that we all do have salvation, our own salvation that we have been saved. And then Paul here is talking to you, those who have been saved. And then he says that you are in verse 12 of Philippians 2 to work out that salvation- to work out your salvation. And so here is Paul’s great concern. His great concern is: What do we do with our salvation? What do we do in other words with our Christian life? Now that is Paul’s great concern. In fact, that is Paul’s great concern also here in his letter to the Philippians.

In fact, he has been thinking of that, and he wrote to them in the very first chapter. He says this in verse 9 and said: “this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more”. Now that is his great concern for these people. He said: What do you do with your Christian life? What is your great worry or concern about your Christian life? You mean you are not concerned at all? You mean you do not think much about your own Christian life? You see, Paul thinks a lot about the Christian life, about their walk. Not just here. In fact to the other churches, other believers in the other places, he constantly comes back to this.

So his great concern is not just for the salvation of people who have not been saved, but his other great concern is also for those who have been saved, say we must do something about our Christian life. So his great desire as we see here in verse 9 is that they may abound still more and more. In other words, that we might make progress, that we might grow. And that is what abound here means that your love might abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment. Verse 10: “that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Jesus Christ”. Jesus Christ is coming again.

Are we ready? Are we prepared in the manner that we live our life, prepare for His coming? And verse 11: “being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”. And see, that is Paul’s great desire for the believers. This text this morning is for the believers. And Paul’s great concern for the believers is that we might make progress, that we might grow, that we might abound more and more. And in verse 27, he writes: “Only let (your life or) your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ”. The worthiness. Walk worthy, he writes elsewhere, of the calling which you have been called.

Now those are the things that are in Paul’s mind. That is his great concern. And you might ask: What is that worry all about? Why should we be ever concerned about whether we make progress in our Christian life or not? I wonder whether you ask yourself that question. Does it really matter if we do not abound or grow or make progress in our Christian life? Is it really a big matter? For Paul, it’s a huge matter. Not sure about you, but for Paul, it’s a huge matter. Why? Well, this is the reason why. You see, when he writes to the Corinthians, he tells them the reason why. I say he’s on this subject now all other places whenever he writes a letter. First Corinthians chapter 9. First Corinthians chapter 9, and look at verse 24.

Verse 24, he writes here in verse 24 of First Corinthians 9: “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.” Now that is the reason why he is concerned about this because he says that in our Christian life we must make progress. We must run in order to get or to obtain the price. Verse 26: “Therefore (he says) I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”.

That is the reason why he is concerned. He doesn’t want to be disqualified in this race. He wants to reach the end. He wants to run the race and finish it and in order to obtain the price. And that’s why he is concerned about how he lived. And so here in our text this morning alright- in our text this morning, he writes. He writes to the Philippians. With all these in mind, you understand where he is coming from. With all this in mind, this great concern, you understand why he is telling the Philippians these words. And so he writes and he says: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling”.

So for the remaining of this time, I want to just flash this out and tell you what exactly he means by this when he exalts them to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. Now there are three things we need to know here about what he is saying. He says we must know. We must know that there is an end in our Christian life. There is an end or a purpose or a goal in our Christian life. And secondly, he is saying that we must also know that there is a means to that end. And finally, he is also saying here that we must have a proper attitude with which we work towards that end. So here then are the three things we want to meditate upon concerning his exaltation here to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.

First, we must know that there is an end in our Christian life. In other words, the Christian life is not the end. For a lot of people (so-called Christians), they think that the Christian life is the end, and they never talk, never think about it anymore, and they never worry about it anymore. You ask them whether you are a Christian, they say yes. What about you as a Christian? I was a Christian that was saved fifteen years ago. It’s the end. It ends there. Fifteen years ago, it’s stuck there. No, that is not what Paul is saying here. He says that your Christian life is not the end, but there is an end in your Christian life. There is a purpose. There is a goal. And therefore, we must work. Therefore, we must work.

Now the false thinking is this. He said that well maybe for some people they are very serious about their Christian life. And therefore in a sense they work out their salvation. In that sense they pay a lot of attention to their salvation. But I’m not the type. I’m not the fanatical type. All those are fanatical Christians, they’re very zealous. No, that is wrong thinking in the Bible. Paul says no, there’s no such thing as these two types of Christians. For all of us, if you’re a Christian, we must all be serious Christians, serious about our Christian life. And so we must know therefore that the Christian life is not the end, but there is a goal in our Christian life. We must work.

You see, salvation in the Bible is sometimes spoken of as I said earlier on as a one-time act. But other times is spoken of as a process- as a process. And that is what Paul is talking about here. Salvation is a process to be completed. Yes, you have been saved, but that’s not the end. There is a process to be completed that we must work. We must work because we have a goal. It’s a process with an end in view. And therefore, Paul writes in his letter to the Colossians in Colossians 1:28- “Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man” what? That we may present every man “(complete or mature or) perfect in Christ Jesus”.

And so Paul is thinking of a goal. He sees Christians that way that they are a work in progress, that it is the process is not completed yet. And the goal is that they might be perfect or complete in Jesus Christ. Now, do you have that understanding about your Christian life? Now I fear for a lot of people. They don’t see their Christian life that way. They don’t see the goal. But in the Bible, there is always a goal mentioned in regards to your Christian life. Why did God ever choose to save you? Ever wonder about that? Now listen to what Paul writes here in his letter to the Romans. Romans 8:29. Romans 8:29, and this is what he says: “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son”.

You see, that is the goal. The reason why God predestined to save some is so that they may be conformed to the image of God’s Son. In other words, in order that you might be like Jesus Christ. Now that is the goal. And therefore he says that that is why we need to work out our salvation. We need in other words to put in effort. The word ‘work’ implies activity or effort needed. And effort is needed because there is a goal that we are moving towards to. And we need to work on our salvation because we are not there yet. Yes, it is a process and there is a goal, and we are not there yet. And that is what Paul is talking about here.

And he speaks that even of himself in his letter to the Philippians as he exalts them to work out their salvation. He reminds them that they are still perhaps far from that goal or towards that end. He says that even I, I have not attained. And so in Philippians 3:12, he writes this: “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also has laid hold of me.”. And then he writes in verse 14: “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”.

Now that is Paul’s frame of mind. That is the way he thinks about his own Christian life. He thinks in exactly the same way he is asking us to think that it is a process, there is a goal, and we are not there yet. And therefore, we must work. Therefore, we must put in effort concerning our Christian life. In other words, we cannot be passive. We cannot be passive about our Christian minds. And so that is the first thing we need to understand about this exhortation here that we must know that there is an end in our Christian life.

Now secondly, we must also know that there is a means to that end. In other words, the question now is how do we attain that goal? How do we reach the end? How do we do it? We are not there yet, how do we get there? Well, we are not left to our own imagination. Now sometimes, we think that our Christian life and how we make progress is left to our own discretion. Now God has revealed in His Word the means by which we grow and make progress in our Christian life. It is not up to us. We don’t have to be innovative. We don’t have to try our so-called own ways, perhaps you know organise some special meetings or to produce some kind of special experiences in people or to use carnal means.

Now carnal means will not produce spiritual results. Our Christian life is a spiritual life. And so here in the Bible, we see that we are not left in the dark as to how we should make progress in our Christian life. If you want to grow as a Christian, if you want to make progress and reach the end, now the Bible tells us that these are the ways. Hebrews 10:25. Hebrews 10:25, again the writer to the Hebrews writes here in verse 25 that we are not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together”. Now that is the God-ordained means. It is not that you know it’s a clever idea invented by some people. They said I think the way that we should make progress or we can make progress in our Christian life for us to gather together.

No, no, that is not our idea. That is God’s idea, “not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” Now that is the God-ordained means for us to gather as God’s people. And for that reason, that’s why we struggled a lot throughout these past two years about this gathering of God’s people and how it might affect our progress. Now it is not a known issue. It is not a known issue. In fact, this should be very much in our prayer as we see that God’s people are not able to gather together.

For some, it doesn’t affect them a lot because at other times even without the pandemic as the writer to the Hebrews writes here that it is the habit of some not to gather together. And the writer here is not talking about a time of a pandemic, where people could not gather. Now even in ordinary times, this is a problem. And so the way, the means that we grow as Christians is for us to come together to encourage one another, to minister to one another, to speak to one another, to sing together the praises of God, to worship together, to fellowship together. Now that is God’s means. And for that reason, when the early church first started, they understood very clearly the means by which they would grow as a church, as a people of God, as Christian in their Christian life.

So the means were clearly revealed to them. And so in the Acts of the apostles in the book of Acts in Acts 2:42, we see the life of the early church, of the early Christians here in verse 42: “And that they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”. So they were not left in the dark as to how a church first started in the New Testament might grow, and these were the things. These were the means that they used, that they gave themselves to faithfully to grow as Christians, that they gave themselves, devoted themselves continually to the ministry of the Word. That is what it means here when they say they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and in fellowship and in prayer and in the observance of the ordinance, the breaking of bread.

When Paul was leaving the church in Ephesus, he gathered the elders and he spoke to them these words. He said to them in Acts 20:32- “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up”. Paul says that this is what you must commit yourself to, to the Word of God, which is able to build you up. There is no other way. God has His own ways by which we make progress in our Christian life. I commend to you, Paul says, to God and to His Word. When Jesus prayed His high priestly prayer, He prayed for the church. And that is what He said in John 17:17- “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”.

Sanctify means being made more and more holy in a sense, living a life that’s different from the world. And the way that we grow in that sanctification process, the way that we grow to be more and more holy, the way that we grow more and more like Jesus Christ to be conformed unto the image of His Son is through the ministry of the Word of God. And so God has His ways. In other words, here we are talking about the public ministry, the public means of grace that God has ordained and that is not to be neglected. The gathering of God’s people, the commitment to the Word of God, and to the fellowship of God’s people, and to prayer.

But then there is also the private means of grace that we see in the Scriptures. How can we make progress towards the end? You look at an example from our Lord Jesus Christ in Mark 1:35. Mark 1:35, and listen as I read this verse to you about our Lord Jesus Christ. It says here about Him: “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.”. Now that is how we might make progress in our Christian life that is the public means of grace where we gather in corporate worship, where we gather as God’s people in fellowship to encourage one another.

But there is also the private means of grace where like the Lord Jesus Christ we are to inculcate, to develop that discipline- that discipline of our private devotion to God. And here we have the Lord Jesus Christ rising early in the morning before the sun rises. And what are we talking about Him? What did He do when He rise up early in the morning? It says here that He understands His priority, and that’s to go to a place and spend time with God. Now think about it. Do all these describe our Christian life? Do all these describe our Christian life? Do we forsake the assembling of ourselves together? Do we forsake fellowship? Do we pay very little attention to the teaching of the Bible, to the Word of God?

Have we developed this private, personal spiritual discipline of devotion? Now how then can we expect to grow in our Christian life if we neglect all these things? Now there is a danger that we neglect this because we do not see the importance of this. But there is also the danger that we neglect this because we are distracted by other concerns in our life. But if you neglect this, then we will not reach the end. That’s what Paul is talking about. Work out your own salvation. Pay attention, do it. So we must know that there is an end in our Christian life. We must also know that there are means to that end.

And then thirdly and finally, we are also told about the attitude with which we work towards our goal. The attitude with which we work towards our goal. Look again at Philippians 2:12 and see what Paul writes there. He writes in Philippians 2:12- “Therefore, my beloved brethren, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but much more in my absence, work out (your salvation or) your own salvation with fear and trembling”. Now let’s think about this. He says that we are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. He’s talking about the attitude with which we work out our salvation. What attitude?

Fear and trembling, what is the meaning of that? Let me say I think it means fear and trembling. I’m not sure that is how we think about our Christian life or that is how we live up our Christian life. Is that that attitude of fear and trembling? Why fear and trembling? Fear and trembling mean you are worried about it. Are you worried about your Christian life whether it makes progress or not? You see for Paul, he says that you ought to work out your salvation or live out your Christian life with fear and trembling because it is not inconsequential. It is not inconsequential. It is not it doesn’t really matter whether we make progress or not.

You see, we are now at the end of another year. I’m sure many of us would spend some time to reflect, to think about our Christian life. Perhaps you give yourself your report card. Maybe you have given the report to the ministers, hundred days report card. Maybe you have given a report card about other people, maybe on other things. What about a report card on your own spiritual life? Does it matter whether you pass or fail? Paul says it matters. It matters. In fact, Jesus says it matters. You might remember what He said in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 7, and He gives this warning. You say why it matters.

Matthew chapter 7, and here beginning in verse 19 He says: “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”. Does it matter? Listen again, Jesus says: “Every tree that does not bear fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore (verse 20) by their fruits you will know them.”. Not everyone who calls themselves Christians will enter into the kingdom of heaven, “but he who does the will of My Father in heaven”. So it is not inconsequential, Jesus says. How you live your Christian life matters because you will be judged by the way you live. And therefore, Paul when he writes to the Corinthians, he says this to them in 2 Corinthians 13:5.

2 Corinthians 13:5, he writes here saying: “Therefore, examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? (Really?) —unless indeed you are disqualified.”. So this attitude of seriousness, of concern, now that is what Paul is talking about when he says work out your salvation with fear and trembling. It is with the realisation, with the awareness that it matters. And therefore, we ought to be serious about our Christian life. It is something that we ought to worry a lot about or think a lot about. So are you? Are you worried about your Christian life?

Just a few days ago I think just yesterday brother Mike went to the hospital and had his medical check-up alright. And he sent us the report and he says good alright, he’s happy about his physical life. We know that our former prime minister, Tun Mahathir, went into IJN to have a check-up. Former finance minister Lim Guan Eng also went in alright I think last week into IJN for a check-up. Have you gone in for any check-ups? I’m not talking about IJN or Sunway Medical Centre. I’m talking about the spiritual hospital. Do a thorough medical check-up on our spiritual life. How is your heart? How is your heart condition?

How’s your mind? How about your eye, spiritual eyesight? Have you got it checked? How about your weight? Are you too fat spiritually? How about your cholesterol? Now that is what Paul is talking about. Our Christian life, is it a matter of great concern? With fear and trembling, he said it should be a matter of great concern with seriousness. But also, I think it means here, it means with fear and trembling means that we ought to look at our Christian life or live our Christian life with much striving, with much effort. Not just seriousness but effort, striving. Philippians 3:13, he says: “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and (striving for or straining forth or) reaching forth.

Now that is what Paul is talking about, straining forth or striving forth to those things which are ahead. Is that this attitude of striving in our Christian life, of seriousness in our Christian life, of making effort in our Christian life? Again the writer to the Hebrews writes here. He said pursue or strive for peace and holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Now that is what with fear and trembling means- with seriousness and with much striving in our Christian life that we might make progress. Work out your own salvation.

So I want to ask again: How is your salvation, your Christian life? Is it okay and does it matter? It is your own salvation. If you don’t take care of it, who will? Now think about it. It is your Christian life. It is your walk with the Lord. You have to take care of it. Let us pray.

“Our Father in heaven, we again come to at the end of the year, we know that we have much to be thankful for. We know that it has been a difficult year, but we have seen Your grace at work in us. We have seen Your love. We have seen how You have dealt with us graciously, and we have seen Your blessing in our lives and in the life of the church. As we come to the end of the year, we want to pause and take a look at our Christian life. And Lord, we know that You have saved us for a purpose. You have saved us from sin that we might be holy. You have saved us that we might indeed be conformed unto the image of Your Son. We are to be holy even as You, our Father, is holy.

Help us, O Lord, therefore to have this goal inside. Help us to understand that our Christian life is not the end. Help us, O Lord, to also know that by Your grace You have Your ordained means for us by which we might grow and make progress in our Christian life, that they may come, that we’ll be presented perfect and matured and complete in Christ Jesus. So help us, O Lord. Grant to us that desire. For these, we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.