Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20081019.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Philippians: Living God's Great Calling Of Godly Servanthood
Part V: Understanding The Specific Direction Of God's Guidance In Godly Servanthood
(Philippians 2:14-18)
  1. Introduction
    1. We previously learned that when the believer relies on the indwelling Holy Spirit, God works in him both to make him will and then to do the will of God in being a godly servant, Philippians 2:1-4, 12-13.
    2. However, it is helpful to know what this involves in everyday life, exactly what God would signal that we are to will and do in producing godly servanthood, and Paul offers this in Philippians 2:14-18 (as follows):
  2. Understanding The Specific Direction Of God's Guidance In Godly Servanthood, Phil. 2:14-18.
    1. Philippians 2:14-16 supplies "specific instructions on how to work out God's 'good purpose' (v. 13) in relation to daily Christian living," Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament , p. 655.
    2. As such, they signal a specific route God's work to "will" and then to "do" produces in the Christian when he relies on the indwelling Holy Spirit, Philippians 2:13a.
    3. That specific route will involve God's work to make a believer "will" and then "do" the servanthood ministries of performing their Biblical callings without a bad attitude that expresses itself in "grumbling", and without the bad consequential act of "arguing" leading to "going to civil courts", Ibid.; Phil. 2:14:
      1. The word rendered "murmurings" (KJV) ["grumbling" ESV; "complaining" NIV] translates a word in the Greek New Testament "which reflects a bad attitude expressed in grumbling," Ibid.
      2. On the other hand, "disputings" (KJV) ["questioning" ESV; "arguing" NIV] comes from a Greek New Testament word that often deals with the practice of going to court with one's complaint where the attitude has shifted into a full-fledged action, Ibid.
      3. In other words, God's work in the believer will make his attitude followed by its resulting action avoid an irritable outlook and its production of contentiousness in his actions!
    4. In this way, the believer would be without blame before other people (amemptoi, U. B. S. Greek New Testament, 1966 ed., p. 685; cf. Richard C. Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament, 1973, p. 380) and pure in God's view (akeraioi, Ibid., U. B. S. Greek N. T.; Ibid., Trench, p. 205-206), Philippians 2:15a.
    5. This absence of a complaining attitude and action that leaves the believer without blame from man and pure before God causes the believer to be an outstanding witness unto the lost world, Philippians 2:15b,c:
      1. Such a path causes the believer to live as God's child without fault in sharp contrast to a crooked and depraved generation, Philippians 2:15b NIV. This implies that the world is full of godless, self-centered people who are irritable in attitude, and who express it in word and action that gets them into conflict with others even in courts of law opposite how God wants His people to function!
      2. Thus, the godly believer will be left shining as a light of truth and righteousness in the world of darkness with its unrighteousness in sour attitudes and resulting contentious actions, Philippians 2:15c.
    6. If the believer thus shines as a light of truth and righteousness in the world by way of a life thus affected by his blameless, non-irritable attitude and resulting non-contentious actions, he actually holds forth the Word of Life, meaning he exemplifies the heart of the Gospel of Christ, a fact that would cause the Apostle Paul to rejoice that his discipling efforts of his readers had not been in vain, Philippians 2:16.
    7. Indeed, Paul considered even being martyred for his ministry to produce such living in his readers the value of his whole ministry and great joy before the Lord, Philippians 2:17-18.
Lesson: When the believer relies on the Holy Spirit and God works to make him "will" and to "do" His will of godly servanthood, the SPECIFIC direction produced will be a GRACIOUS ATTITUDE that leads to GRACIOUS ACTIONS that contrast markedly with the irritability and contentiousness of the godless world, making the believer's LIFE an EXAMPLE of GOSPEL TRUTH before the world. The Apostle Paul held such a LIFESTYLE in his readers was WORTH his ministry and even martyrdom!

Application: May we rely upon the Holy Spirit to perform our callings without irritable attitudes and their resulting contentious acts, that we might SHINE in GRACIOUSNESS of God's TRUTH to a needy world. In so doing, we will attain the apex of godly servanthood that God so greatly values!