+I. The salvation to be wrought out.+--Salvation simply means
deliverance. It may be either temporal or spiritual, or both. The
process of salvation is to be continuous.
+II. In the work of our salvation Divine and human co-operation is
necessary.+--Illustrated in the products of nature, in works of art
and skill. 1. _God works in us by the light of His truth._ 2. _By
appealing to us with the influence of powerful motives._ 3. _Works in
us by the influences of His Spirit._
+III. Seek to ascertain to what extent we are indebted for our
personal salvation to God working in us.+--Our salvation from first
to last is from God; that we are saved by grace, yet not so as to
destroy our own effort. He produces in us the will and power. We are
to exercise the will and power by repenting, believing, and living a
life of holiness.
+IV. Why we are to work out our own salvation with fear and
trembling.+--Because of the possibility of our unfaithfulness. May be
too sure of salvation, and too doubtful.--_J. C. Symons._
_The Active Exertion of Man in working out his Salvation harmonises
with the Free Grace of God as being the Sole Author of it._--There
are two facts connected with the deliverance of the Israelites out of
Egypt--their preservation in the wilderness, and their settlement in
the land of Canaan--to which I would solicit your attention.
+I. That all was done for them by God, and is to be ascribed solely,
from first to last, to His almighty power and grace.+--1. The means
by which the establishment of the Israelites in the Promised Land was
effected were evidently beyond the reach of human agency. 2. Even in
those particular cases in which the active exertions of the
Israelites were employed as the means of their deliverance or success
the whole is ascribed to God. (1) He gave them courage to fight
against their enemies; (2) He gave them success by sending terror
into the hearts of their enemies.
+II. That although God thus did everything for them, He did it in
such a way as to bring every power of their minds and bodies into
exercise, and to render their own activity absolutely necessary to
their preservation and success.+--Illustrated in the passage of the
Red Sea, and in the first battle of the Israelites with the
Amalekites (Exod. xvii. 8).
+Lessons.+--1. _As the deliverance of the Israelites and their
establishment in Canaan was wholly of God, so the salvation of every
sinner is to be ascribed solely and entirely to His mercy and power._
2. _As God required the Israelites to be active, watchful, diligent,
ardent, and strenuous in their exertions to overcome difficulties and
to defeat their enemies, so He requires His people to make their
calling and election sure, to work out their salvation with fear and
trembling._--Although God does all for us in the matter of our
salvation, yet He places us in situations where we must exert
ourselves or perish.--_Anonymous._
_The Co-operation of Human and Divine Agency in our Salvation._
+I. This co-operation of Divine and human energies has place in all
the most important facts and pursuits that make up the history of
man.+--1. _It is true of the commencement of our being._ 2. _Our
growth and education are the result of the same joint agency._
3. _This fundamental law reigns over all the works of man._
+II. What does God accomplish and what does He demand of us in the
joint working out of our salvation?+--1 _God works in us by the light
of His truth._ 2. _By the power of motives._ 3. _By the energy of His
Spirit._
+III. What is the intent and object of these Divine
operations?+--1. _They are not designed to transform the character
as, when after conversion, they are media of sanctification._
2. _Human co-operation is the indispensable condition of progress._
3. _Will and do._ These describe the duty of the unconverted
man.--_S. Olin, D.D._
_Man's Work and God's Work._
+I. This salvation is begun when we believe in Christ, but it
requires to be worked out.+
+II. The fact that God works in us renders our working possible.+
+III. The fact that God works in us should make us fear and
tremble.+--_R. Abercrombie, M.A._
_MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.--Verses_ 14-18.
_The Lustre of a Blameless Life_--
+I. Suppresses all murmuring and doubt as unworthy of the children of
God.+--"Do all things without murmurings and disputings: that ye may
be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke" (vers. 14,
15). As the sons of God, distinguished by so high and holy a calling,
believers should be blameless and pure. Their spiritual integrity
should lift them above the cause of blame. To be pure and blameless
they must not yield to the spirit of dissatisfaction and doubt. "No
matter what may tend to excite this spirit, it must not be indulged,
whether the temptation to it be the Divine command, the nature of the
duty, the self-denial it involves, or the opposition occasionally
encountered. There was neither grudge nor reluctance with Him whose
example is described in the preceding verses, no murmur at the depth
of His condescension, or doubt as to the amount or severity of the
sufferings which for others He so willingly endured" (_Eadie_).
+II. Sheds a guiding light in the midst of a dark world.+--"In the
midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights
in the world; holding forth the word of life" (vers. 15, 16). The
Philippians were to be a light and guide to their fellow-citizens, a
people made up of Jew and pagan, moved by tortuous and perverse
impulses. Nothing would please them: give them one argument, they cry
for another; tell them of the simplicity of the Gospel, they prefer
you should dwell on its mysteries; speak of its power, they ask you
to expound its charity. The children of God are to society everywhere
what the heavenly luminaries are to the world--they are to diffuse
light, and guide the way to a better life. The star which led the
wise men to Christ, the pillar of fire which led the children of
Israel into Canaan, did not only shine, but went before them.
Believers shine by the light of the Word which they hold forth, and
that light is the guide to others. Virtue should shine in cities, not
in solitudes. The Christian's duty is here among men; and the nearer
he draws to his fellow-men, so that his religion be real and true,
the more good he is likely to do them. On the north coast of Cornwall
and Devon is a lighthouse, which first of all was placed high upon
the cliffs, where the mists and fogs often obscured and hid its
brightness from the passing mariner in hours of the sorest need. So
they took it down and built it afresh on the rock out at sea, amid
the waves of that dangerous coast, there to shine where it was most
necessary.
+III. Supplies a prolific theme of ministerial joy.+--1. _A joy
complete when his work is finally appraised._ "That I may rejoice in
the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in
vain" (ver. 16). The apostle had run with the eagerness of a racer in
the Isthmian games--the prizes he sought, the souls of men; he had
laboured with strenuous and persevering diligence--the wages he
sought, the souls of men; and now looking by anticipation at the
results of his apostolic toil, in the light of the great day of
Christ, his greatest joy will be that his efforts have not been in
vain. His joy then will be, not in the number and wealth of the
Churches he founded, but in the spiritual progress and advancement of
the members. The results of work for Christ are often in this world
obscured and confused; but in the day of Christ all will be clear and
the work seen in all its beauty and dimensions. The joy of success is
often checkered and interrupted in this life; but yonder the joy will
be complete and full. We shall share the joy of the conquering Christ.
2. _A joy not diminished though life is prematurely
sacrificed._--"Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and
service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all" (ver. 17).
The apostle's image is that of an altar, on which the faith of the
Philippians is laid by him as priest, while his own blood is being
poured out as the usual drink-offering or libation. In the near
prospect of martyrdom he has no gloomy anticipations. Death will not
terminate his joy, but accelerate it, as it will admit him to realms
where all is calm and joy and peace. Such is the triumph of the
Christian spirit; it can rejoice in tribulation and in the very
presence of death.
3. _A joy in which his converts may share._--"For the same cause also
do ye joy, and rejoice with me" (ver. 18). So far from being
dispirited by the prospect of his martyrdom, the apostle calls upon
them to share his joy on account of the success of the Gospel. How
often in the changeful experiences of life are joy and sorrow mingled
together. "Joy lives in the midst of the sorrow; the sorrow springs
from the same root as the gladness. The two do not clash against each
other, or reduce the emotion to a neutral indifference, but they
blend into one another, just as in the Arctic regions, deep down
beneath the cold snow with its white desolation and its barren death,
you shall find the budding of the early spring flowers and the fresh
green grass; just as some kinds of fire burn below the water; just as
in the midst of the barren and undrinkable sea there may be welling
up some little fountain of fresh water that comes from a deeper depth
than the great ocean around it and pours its sweet streams along the
surface of the salt waste" (_Maclaren_).
+Lessons.+--1. _A blameless life is the product of the grace of God._
2. _Is a rebuke to the wavering and inconsistent._ 3. _Evokes the
congratulations of the good in both worlds._
_GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES._
Vers. 15, 16. _Christians Example to the World._--1. Divisions and
strife grieve the Spirit and darken those evidences of sonship which
believers in a calm and peaceful temper of spirit used to see most
clearly. 2. We stop the mouths of enemies when our conversation is
such as may discover to others their failings, and point out that
good way wherein they ought to walk. 3. _Suitable_ practice joined
with profession puts such a majesty and splendour on truth that every
Christian is to profane men as the sun and moon are in the firmament.
4. The glory put on gracious souls at the day of judgment will add to
the glory and joy of faithful ministers.--_Fergusson._