[0:00] This is the epistle of Paul to the Philippians in chapter 2. Paul's epistle to the Philippians in chapter 2, where in our studies we've come to verses 12 and 13.
[0:14] Reading at verse 12, Wherefore, 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 worketh in you, both to will and to do, of his good pleasure.
[0:41] And these two verses obviously belong together very intimately. But you will notice that verse 12 begins with the word, wherefore.
[0:53] There is a wherefore at the beginning of that verse, as there has been, as we saw at the beginning of verse 9. We could say that verse 9 is the wherefore that bears upon God.
[1:07] And that here in verse 12, the wherefore bears upon us. Wherefore, God highly exalted Christ. And now Paul is saying, wherefore, my beloved, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
[1:25] In other words, he's saying to us, the response of God to all that we find in Christ, in his obedience unto death, in that atoning death that he died, in that atonement that he rendered, the response of God to that is that he highly exalted him.
[1:44] Wherefore, God hath highly exalted him. And now in the light of all that we saw of Christ's humility, and of Christ's obedience and Christ's death, Paul is bringing before our notice here, this scripture calls our mind to the response that you and I ought to have to all that we have seen of Christ.
[2:06] Wherefore, he says, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, now also work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
[2:18] And what he's focusing on here is what we can give the title of the Christian's sanctification.
[2:30] Sanctification. Sanctification. The sanctification of God's people. Now you remember the catechism definition of sanctification, that it's a work of God's free grace, whereby we are renewed, the whole man is renewed, and are enabled to die more and more to sin, and to live unto righteousness.
[3:05] We are enabled to die more and more unto sin, to live unto righteousness. We are renewed in the whole man. That's God's sanctification of his people.
[3:18] There are two sides to it. The very two sides that these two verses present to us in this marvellous balance. There is God's side.
[3:28] There is our side. There is the side of working out. Our side. There is the side of working in. God's side.
[3:40] There is the side where we actually are enabled to die unto sin and live unto righteousness. We die unto sin. We live unto righteousness.
[3:51] We multiply the deeds of the body. But you see, we are enabled, the catechism says, to do that. For it is God who works in us, this verse says, to will and to do of his good pleasure.
[4:08] Now, before we look at verse 12 tonight more closely, it is singularly important for you and I that we understand how these two verses actually fit together in this balance that we've mentioned.
[4:23] Because it's a perfect balance, a perfect equilibrium. And if we don't have this right in our minds, we're in real trouble. We have to understand the relation between the two verses, the two sides of sanctification.
[4:40] Because as we'll see, if we come down either on the one side or the other and don't hold the two in balance, then we're going to be astray and grievously astray more than likely.
[4:52] Here is Paul saying, work out your own salvation, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Now we have to say, the first thing there to notice, in the balance and the relation between them, is that we are absolutely dependent on God and must be dependent on the power of God, on the power of his grace, so that we have sanctification of life.
[5:20] So that we are sanctified, so that we are progressively sanctified, so that we are being sanctified. It is in dependence on God. We cannot do it by ourselves.
[5:31] It is God's power. It is the Holy Spirit's working. It is that holy energy of the Spirit of God. And without that, you cannot be sanctified. But then you see, there is the other side of the matter.
[5:47] Why do you have to insist on that? You also have to insist on this, that sanctification involves, the conscious life, the conscious life, of the believer.
[6:03] And it involves the conscious life, of the believer, as we see in the due use, of all the means, that God has appointed, for our sanctification.
[6:14] And it is vital, that these two things are held, in the right relation, in our minds, in our understanding. Because you see, as the verses set them before us, it's not a matter of, cooperation.
[6:31] It's not a matter of God, doing his side of the issue, and our doing, our side of the issue separately. And then when we bring the two together, the end result of that, is sanctification.
[6:46] They don't exist, as it were, side by side, though they are always tied together. God's side, and our side. It's not cooperation, alongside.
[6:58] Because you notice, the for, at the beginning of verse 13. Work out your own salvation, with fear and trembling, for it is God, who works in you, both to will, and to do of his good pleasure.
[7:13] Why do we work out? What is the moving cause, behind the working out, by the people of God, of their own salvation? What is the, what is this moving cause, behind, outside of the issue?
[7:26] It is, the working of God. We work out, because, God works in. That's the relation between.
[7:38] We work out, on our side, of our sanctification, we work out, our own salvation, with fear and trembling, because, of the fact, that it is the mighty working of God, that is working inwardly.
[7:51] And it is because, of the fact of God's working, that we actually have, our working out. Work it out, says Paul, for, because, it is God, who works in.
[8:06] And therefore, the apostle is giving us, two things, that he's giving us, encouragement, and he's giving us, explanation. We're dealing with the explanation, chiefly just now.
[8:18] The explanation of, the relation between, God's side, and our side, in the very important matter, of sanctification. But it's also, encouragement, because the more, you and I, are consistently, and seriously, engaged, in the issues, of salvation, the more certain, the more certain, you can be.
[8:44] But the reason, for that, is that God, is working in you. And that he's working in you, to will, and to do, of his good pleasure. That's his side, you see.
[8:55] He doesn't simply, give you, the will to do, without the power, to carry it through. Neither does he give you, something to do, without being willing, to do it.
[9:06] The two things, as we'll see, God willing next time, are involved, in God's side, of the issue. He gives you the will, and he gives you the doing. He gives you the will, he gives you the power, he gives you both.
[9:18] So that you will, what is for his glory. So that you are enabled, to die unto sin, more and more, and to live, unto righteousness.
[9:31] Now there then, is this important relation, between, these two issues, that we have to carry along with us, as we look into these two verses. Now let's ask, before we leave the point, what happens, if we take that balance, that perfect balance, that Paul is giving us, and if we let it down, on either side, of the balance.
[9:53] Supposing we tip the scales, on the side of, our working out, to the neglect, of what we have, of God's working in. What do you have? What are you left with? If it's simply a matter of, our working out, our own salvation, and leave it at that.
[10:08] Well what you've got there, is, what you find, in many of the, unbelieving, sects, that you find, peddling their way, throughout the world.
[10:19] Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, whatever they might be, as you look into them, always, every single one of them, that we've noticed, have, the kind of thing, that they offer you, it comes down to this, you've got to work out, your own salvation, you've got to earn it.
[10:38] You've got to work, in such a way, that gains the favor of God. And the more, you're working, the more busy, you are with working, the more doors, you knock, the more certain, you can be, that you're saved.
[10:50] That's what happens, when you tip the balance, on that side, of the issue. It's the same, when you look into, every other religion, that we know of, that has come to our notice, at least, in the world today, or in the past, outside that religion, that is in Christ.
[11:07] They all come down, to this, same matter. You've got to save yourself. You've got to save yourself, by your own efforts. You can gain, the favor of God, if you're sincere, if you're serious, if you're really hard working, if you work, at the commandments of God, you can do it.
[11:27] And the harder you work, the more likely, you are to do it. That is, very far, from what Paul means. And what the Bible, tells us, is the salvation of God.
[11:41] That is very much against, what you find, Paul, above every other scripture writer, stressing so frequently, that salvation, comes into our possession, yes, through faith, but even that itself, is the gift of God's grace.
[11:56] You don't gain your salvation, you don't earn your salvation, you cannot. It's impossible, for you and I, to gain this salvation, to earn this salvation, to work in such a way, that earns the favor of God.
[12:09] How ludicrous. For those who are dominated by sin, who are under the tyranny of sin, who are in the bondage of sin, whose will is bound by sin.
[12:23] You see, God, has done all that for us in Christ. No, you don't gain your salvation, you don't earn your salvation, it's given to you.
[12:35] You take it, you receive it, the kingdom of God is received, you receive it as a little child, in dependence on God, in faith, in repentance, as you wait upon him, you say, Lord, give me what thou hast provided.
[12:51] All that is in Jesus Christ. that's what happens then, if you tip the balance to that side. But supposing you tip the balance to the other side, supposing you leave out that side almost altogether, and you concentrate entirely on verse 13, it is God who works in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
[13:13] And we're persuaded that, there are far more people in the free church, that tip the balance, to that side of the balance, than the other side. Because this is the tipping of the balance, that concludes, while God does everything, and therefore I can do nothing, and therefore I will do nothing, God must do absolutely everything for me.
[13:36] There is nothing that I can do. There is nothing at all required of me. All that is necessary, God must do it. God alone can do it. Well, let me tell you, what Spurgeon said, about that sort of idea.
[13:53] He said, at one time, when he was preaching, he said to the congregation, yes, you believe, everything is determined. You are right. Everything is determined.
[14:04] Everything is in the hand of a sovereign God, who has decreed everything that comes to pass, whose sovereignty in his rule, regulates all things.
[14:15] All is determined. Yes, you're right, he said. But when you go home tonight, for your supper, you don't sit down at the table, and say, everything is decreed, therefore I cannot eat my supper.
[14:28] You just get down, and you eat it, and you take it, and you avail yourself of it. We cannot, in stressing the working of God, neglect the matter of our responsibility.
[14:48] The consistent message of the gospel presents Christ to us freely, fully, for us to receive him.
[15:00] And the Bible consistently presents Christ, this whole, this complete, this marvellous saviour to you. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.
[15:15] No sitting back. No saying, I must tip the balance in this, on this side of the issue. It is God who works. I have no work whatsoever to do.
[15:28] No, sanctification is two-sided. Yes, it is God who works inwardly. But don't let us suppose we have absolutely nothing in the matter of our sanctification, and preparation for heaven.
[15:41] Work it out, says Paul, with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you. The balance is important. We're not dealing with the sanctification of electronic robots or anything like that.
[15:55] We're dealing with the sanctification of minds, of reasonable minds, as Paul puts it in Romans chapter 12. Present your bodies, he says, a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, your rational service, your thinking service, the service that engages your mind, the service in which your will is absolutely and thoroughly involved with all the means that come to your presence are available, where you take everything that God gives you and you use it.
[16:33] And you use it in the way that he has appointed and for the reasons he has appointed. There then is the balance that we have to hold in mind. Now let's look more closely first of all at what he tells us in verse 12 and that's the side of the balance we're going to look at tonight.
[16:50] Wherefore, 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.
[17:03] Now that word salvation first of all. The people of God who are sanctified in this world already possess salvation.
[17:16] The Bible tells us they are saved. They will never again be unsaved. They can never speak of themselves again as being lost. They are in Christ.
[17:28] They are secure. They have union with Christ for all their failures, for all their faults, for all their sins, for all that they must lament before God. The believer in Christ is saved from that point of view.
[17:40] You can never again be unsaved. It's impossible. That of course gives us no cause for laxity, for relaxing, for indolence.
[17:54] But the Bible uses salvation in another sense or a rather more narrow definition of salvation. The Bible uses the word salvation to speak about the very final phase of salvation.
[18:11] That very last phase in which God brings his people into glory. A phase which cannot be until Christ again comes to this world.
[18:23] A phase that we find spoken of even here at the end of chapter 3 where Christ comes from heaven who is going to challenge, he says, our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.
[18:35] He's going to bring us, he says, to that, but that is in the future. And the Bible uses the word salvation to describe that part of salvation, that phase, that final phase, that final step if you like, the receiving of the crown if you can put it that way.
[18:54] Because you remember as we read in 1 Peter, a passage which has many, many affinities with what we're looking at tonight. But notice in verse 5, having spoken of this inheritance that is undefiled, incorruptible, and unfading, he says, it's reserved in heaven for you.
[19:18] For who? For you, he says, who are kept. And then he defines that further. And we have to notice these three prepositions that he's using.
[19:31] They're so important. You are kept, he says, by something. You are kept through something. And you are kept unto something.
[19:42] You are kept by the power of God. God working in. You are kept through faith. You working out.
[19:57] And you are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. What salvation? The salvation ready, he says, to be revealed in the last time.
[20:10] And he obviously has in mind the coming of Christ because he speaks again in verse 9, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your, the end of your faith, even the salvation of your soul, speaking of the coming of Christ.
[20:24] Salvation, that final phase of it, unto salvation, you are sanctified unto that. You are sanctified with reference to that. You are sanctified towards that.
[20:37] Now Paul is saying, you have to work out your salvation. You have to work towards that salvation. It's not yet, it's not yet come to pass, but you're working towards it.
[20:51] Take what he says again in chapter 3, very alike what he says here. He's got in mind the athlete running towards the team.
[21:05] Athletic energy and endemic. Brethren, he says, I do not myself yet count myself to have apprehended.
[21:16] But this one thing I do, forgetting these things that are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
[21:32] I press toward the mark. I'm working out my own salvation. I recognize that I've been given salvation, that I'm now saved, that I will never again be unsaved, that I cannot now be lost as a man in Christ, but I'm working it out.
[21:48] I'm working out my salvation. I'm working towards that final phase of it. And he's saying I cannot do anything else. It's an imperative.
[21:59] It's something that the believing heart, whenever it is faithful to God, is, is always conscious of having to do with the utmost urgence, working it out, working out our salvation.
[22:19] And we mentioned the use of all the means that God gives us, and God gives us three means especially, and the three of them, the catechism as it defines it, are made effectual to the elect for salvation.
[22:36] The three are the word, the sacrament, and prayer. The word, the sacrament, and prayer. Let me follow on from that by reading the following few questions in the catechism.
[22:52] How is the word made effectual to salvation? The spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching of the word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort through faith unto salvation.
[23:18] Through faith unto salvation. Not the word without faith. Not the word without the spirit. not the word by the spirit without faith.
[23:30] The word by the spirit through faith. It's made effectual. It sanctifies. It prepares unto salvation.
[23:41] salvation. How is the word to be read and heard that it may be effectual unto salvation? That the word may become effectual to salvation?
[23:52] We must attend thereunto with diligence, preparation and prayer. Receive it with faith and love and lay it up in our hearts and practice it in our lives.
[24:08] We must do that. We have to work it out. How do the sacraments become effectual means of salvation?
[24:20] The sacraments become effectual means of salvation not from any virtue in them or in him that doth administer them, but only by the blessing of Christ and the working of his spirit in them that by faith receive.
[24:39] You see they always stress these two sides. These great men of God who drew up the Westminster Confession of Faith and this catechism. Oh what a superb grasp they had of theology.
[24:53] What a marvellous summary they provide for us of reformed theology. The two sides of this important issue. Your side and God's side.
[25:04] God working in salvation. Therefore we working out. Work out says Paul your own salvation. The salvation not only that you have but that is yet to be.
[25:15] Working it out, working towards it. Work it out with fear and trembling. Work it for it is God who works in you. To will and to do of his good pleasure.
[25:29] But then you see Paul gives us one or two other details about this working out of our salvation. He doesn't leave us to imagine what he means this working out comprises.
[25:44] And the first thing that it provides for us here is that it's sanctification that involves obedience to Christ.
[25:56] Notice we haven't mentioned the word obedience. but it's so important. In fact it's so important that in the way that Paul puts it there it's really equal to work out your own salvation.
[26:13] Notice how he puts it. Wherefore my beloved as you have always obeyed so now also work out your own salvation. As you have obeyed in the past obey now in the present.
[26:27] And obedience now in the present is nothing less than working out your own salvation with fear and trembling. We've spoken of the obedience of Christ. The obedience where he was obedient unto death.
[26:41] Where he went to the cross, to that accursed cross where he gave himself to be a sacrificial offering for the sins of his people.
[26:53] What is the only adequate response to that on our part? obedience. Obedience to Christ. Remember how Hebrews chapter 5 puts the two things together.
[27:09] Though he were a son yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered and having been made perfect he became the author of eternal salvation to all them that obeyed.
[27:23] to all them to obeyed. Wherever you have sanctification you have obedience to Christ. Wherever you have true obedience to Christ you're bound to have sanctification.
[27:37] It cannot but follow. Where obedience in Christ is found that person is sanctified. That person is being sanctified by God. That person is working out their own salvation. The two things are ever together obedience and working out obedience and sanctification.
[27:53] our obedience to Christ is something that we hope to come back to on another occasion to look at more fully. I want tonight to look at these things in relation to each other.
[28:06] But obedience to Christ if we can just say this for the moment stands at the very head of the workings of the heart that is in a saving relation to Christ.
[28:19] it is one of the first evidences of a person's transition from death to life. Obedience to the revealed will of God.
[28:32] Obedience to Christ. How often he himself put it in these terms. How often he himself spoke of discipleship as discipleship that had at its very heart obedience to himself.
[28:46] If you love me keep my commandments. didn't he say why do you call me Lord and do not do the things that I say? Why do you give me that title and yet do not do the things that I say?
[29:00] Why do you call me Lord and yet your heart is not obedient? Why do you call me your master your Christ? Why do you call me the saviour when he's not the saviour in the sense of an obedient heart on your own part?
[29:14] That's what he was saying to these people. Why do you call me Lord and do not the things that I say? Why do you call me Lord and yet you're not obedient? You're not submissive?
[29:25] Your heart has never yielded to him. That's what he says. Obedience to Christ. The heart that bows, the heart that kneels, the heart that submits, the heart that yields, the heart that opens, the heart that obeys the word of Christ, the heart that loves the Lord to such an extent that nothing is too much to do for the Lord.
[29:55] Obedience to Christ. And you see, Paul is concerned that the Philippians understand that obedience to Christ must never change as outward circumstances change.
[30:09] He says, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation in obedience to Christ.
[30:22] Paul is no longer with them. But that, you see, doesn't give them any excuse whatsoever to say, if only Paul were here, we would be greater saints, we would be more sanctified.
[30:33] If only we had the apostle again, this great man of God, so foundational in this congregation, of God's people in Philippi, and yet he's saying to these people, you've got to work out your own salvation as much in my absence as in my presence, indeed, much more now in my absence, he's saying.
[30:51] It's not a matter of who's with you, it's not a matter of who your minister is, it's not a matter of what congregation you belong to. Obedience to Christ is not qualified by any of these things.
[31:05] You cannot save only such and such a person were different. Then I would obey Christ, I would find it much more congenial to embrace him.
[31:19] No, friend, you cannot say that. Obedience to Christ must not be qualified by any of these things. Paul is saying, whether I'm with you or not with you, whether I'm taken from you to go elsewhere or wherever it might be, much more, he says, in my absence, work out your own salvation and fear and dread.
[31:45] it's not dependent on the minister, it's not dependent on the elders, it's not dependent on any of these things. You have Christ, you have his spirit, you have his power, you have the means of grace, you have all of these things appointed by God.
[32:02] That's what Paul is saying to the Philippians, that's what you and I must take from this now, this side of the issue, this side of our sanctification, work out your salvation, work it out, he says, whatever the outward circumstances might be.
[32:15] Work it out, work it out, work it out in obedience to Christ. Obedience to Christ is the central thing and it cannot be qualified.
[32:29] But then secondly, he tells us something else. It isn't simply sanctification in obedience or involving obedience, it's sanctification also involving fear and trembling.
[32:45] fear. There are many in the world today who would not have put it that way. And there are many in the world today who even finding it put that way would still put the last part of the verse very far below the rest.
[33:02] But you must not do that. You have to work out your own salvation with fear and terror. what does Paul mean by that?
[33:16] Well, there are some that would suggest to us nowadays that fear and trembling has no place in the Christian life. But God has taken away fear and trembling, all fear and trembling from the heart, from the life of the Christian, that fear and trembling belongs to unbelief, that fear and trembling belongs to the world, to the regions of doubt and speculation and lack of confidence.
[33:45] You must not, you must not believe that. Paul is speaking to saints in Philippi, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus.
[33:57] And he's saying to those saints in Philippi, to these people of God, you've got to work out your salvation, you've got to work out your salvation as saints, as the people of God, with fear and trembling.
[34:10] I don't question the fact that there is a fear and trembling that is not of faith. You and I are certainly prone to that fear of trembling that is not of faith. You find it in the hearts of the people of God, from time to time at least.
[34:24] The fear and trembling that comes on us because we fail to look at Christ and begin to look more at ourselves. The fear and trembling that came upon Peter, you remember, as he launched out onto the waves.
[34:37] Until he suddenly looked about and realized what he was doing outwardly. Until he saw the seas and heard the wind and felt the storm on his face, he began to sink, fear and trembling of unbelief.
[34:57] Because the Lord said to him, Oh, little faith, Oh, little faith, why did you doubt? Worship me, there is a fear and trembling, we don't doubt that, that comes about, that creeps upon us, that overtakes us at times like that, when we look in at ourselves, when we see our own failures, our own inabilities, our own incapacities, our own faults, our own sins, when we concentrate over much on these things, the fear and trembling that comes on us, we question whether God ever dealt with us savingly, we take our eyes of Christ and of his sufficiency, yes there's that fear and trembling, but that's not what Paul is talking about, what Paul is talking about is the fear and trembling, that trembles indeed, it's very, though it wasn't planned that way, at least not by me, very like what we mentioned this morning, God planted, I'm sure of that, the fear and trembling that recognises what a terrible thing it is to sin against,
[36:01] God, the fear and trembling that recognises the great holiness of God, at least in a measure in which we're able to do that, the fear and trembling that recognises the awesomeness of God, the fear and trembling that recognises how easy it is to put a stain on the garment of Christ, the fear and trembling that speaks, that thinks of actually doing that with trembling, with fear, that recognises the name of Christ for what it is, the service of Christ to be so filled with things that require the utmost carefulness and seriousness, the fear and trembling that recognises and looking upon ourselves recognises how near we are to the verge of peril every day, how in ourselves we are so weak, so beggarly, so sinful, so prone to disaster, the fear of God that looks upon a man that has become a wretch in the world, steeped in sin and that sees written over such a person, there but for the grace of
[37:14] God go I, and there but for the grace of God I shall be, but for the grace of God. The fear and trembling that Paul himself spoke about, remember in 1 Corinthians 15 he's defining his apostleship, he's saying I really am an apostle but I'm not worthy, for I am the least of the apostles, I'm not worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God but by the grace of God I am what I am.
[37:51] Yes, the grace that sanctifies the ungodly, that justifies the ungodly, the heart that works out salvation with fear and trembling is the heart that knows of that, that recognises the grace of God for what it is and that now is moved with a fear of offending him, of causing any dishonour to his name.
[38:22] The fear that recognises the injunction of scripture be ye holy or I am holy. You've to work it out with that fear and trembling.
[38:36] Oh, how little we have of that fear and trembling tonight. How little we have of our recognition in our hearts of this awesomeness of God, of this majesty of God, of this holiness of God, how often we speak about it, how often we preach it, how little we feel it, wait.
[38:58] With fear and trembling, the Bible is full of it, friends, full of it from beginning to end. Almost every description you find of these people of God, you find it described in terms of men and women who feared the Lord.
[39:15] Who was Job? How did God speak about him? A man who was righteous, who fears God, and as doeth evil, avoids, shuns evil.
[39:30] Isn't that how he described him even to Satan? Have you considered my servant Job, a righteous man who fears God?
[39:43] Go back to Abraham on Mount Moriah, how his obedience was tested. Offer up your only son Isaac, whom you love, on that altar.
[40:03] given to me as a sacrifice. He did it. Oh, in his heart he did it.
[40:15] He obeyed to the full and to the detail of God's command. But you remember when that voice came from heaven to stop him, plunging the knife into Isaac's heart.
[40:30] What did the voice say? Abraham, Abraham, so, lay not thine hand upon the lad, for now I know that thou fears God.
[40:45] He didn't say, now I know that you believe. He didn't say, now I know that you are sanctified. He didn't say, even now I know that you're obedient.
[40:55] all of these things were implied in what he said. He said, now I know that you fear God. Now I know that your relation to me is one of true obedience, the obedience that manifests itself in working out your salvation with fear and with trembling.
[41:17] Now we should pray for more of that spirit of fear and trembling, for more of that essence of holiness of life that is patterned upon the God that we worship.
[41:31] Be ye holy, for I am holy. Obedience, fear and trembling, and finally and just in a word, it's a working out of salvation, it's a sanctification that is so pressure.
[41:50] Work out your own salvation. Nobody else can work it out for you. Your minister can't work it out for you.
[42:01] Your best friend in this world cannot work it out for you. And you have to put it this way, not even the Lord himself can work it out for you.
[42:13] You have to work it out. It is your salvation. salvation. Your own salvation. Notice how precise it is. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
[42:27] There is no substitute for you there. No substitute for the working out. Oh, thank God, there is a substitute for the aspect of it that you could not do.
[42:41] God. The substitute that is Christ himself. The saviour that is offered in the gospel, that offers himself in the gospel, that presents himself in the gospel, the substitute for sinners, the substitute that meets sinners in their need, that is admirably and exactly and perfectly suited for every sinner here tonight, however great, however manifold, however varied our sins might be, there, friend, is your substitute as he's offered to you in the gospel, but for the working out of salvation, you work it out, it's your own salvation, your responsibility, your use of means, your progressive use, your use of it, and all that God has given to you, work out your own salvation, the salvation that is so personal, the salvation that belongs to each of us, however we might think of it, this is what
[43:43] God is saying to us tonight, salvation from God, but your own salvation, obedience to Christ, fear and trembling in reverence and awe at the holiness and majesty of God, personal work, salvation, that is the life of the sanctified believer, the believer who is being sanctified, the believer who is destined for glory, that is our side of the balance, the side that we cannot neglect but at our peril, we mustn't let the scales tip to either side, whatever outward circumstances may prevail, tonight this is the message, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to do of his good flesh, and if you feel tonight that you haven't, the will or the doing, all friends who is saying to you tonight, ask, this is not the promise of God, they that call upon the name
[45:11] Lordů . Word . . W . .
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