Working Out What is Worked In

Working Out What is Worked In

A Sermon
(No. 820)

Delivered on Lord's-Day Morning, July 12, 1868, by
C. H. SPURGEON,
at the [30]Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.

"Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God
which works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure."
Philippians 2:12,13.

I HAVE frequently heard these words addressed to an indiscriminate
audience and it has always struck me that they have thereby been
twisted from their right meaning. These words, as they stand in the New
Testament, contain no exhortation to all men, but are directed to the
people of God. They are not intended as an exhortation to the
unconverted. They are, as we find them in the Epistle, beyond all
question addressed to those who are already saved through a living
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

No proof can be needed of this assertion, for the whole Epistle is
directed to the saints. It begins, "To all the saints in Christ Jesus
which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons." And the verse
before us contains within itself conclusive evidence that Paul was not
speaking to unbelievers, for he calls the persons addressed, "my
Beloved," and he says of them, "As you have always obeyed, not as in my
presence only, but now much more in my absence." He was, therefore,
writing to persons who had been obedient to the Gospel! And all true
obedience springs from saving faith–he was, therefore, addressing
those who, through faith in Christ, had been rendered obedient to the
Gospel commands.

To obedient Believers he writes, "Work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling." It may be right to use a text apart from the
connection, and I will not venture to censure those who have dealt so
with this passage, but it is never right to attempt to draw
authoritative doctrine from a text apart from the context, and
therefore nothing can be drawn from the text before us in reference to
the duty or to the power of the unconverted–seeing that from its
connection it is tied and bound to those who are Believers in Christ
Jesus–and to those who were and still continue to be obedient to the
Gospel which Paul proclaimed.

If we sometimes looked a little more to the connection of sentences we
should be kept from very dangerous errors. The Bible ought to be
treated in conformity with common sense, as you would use any other
book. If you took the writings of any author, however carefully he
might express himself, if you picked out a sentence here, and a
sentence there, you might make the man say what he never believed. No,
even make him to be the supporter of opinions which he abhors! So it is
with the Bible–if you pay no regard to the connection and general run
of the passage, you miss the mind of the Spirit of God–and thrust your
own mind into God's Words than bring out God's mind from the Words of
the Holy Spirit.

The exhortation before us is given solely to the people of God and I
feel it to be more than my conscience could endure to force it into any
other service. To as many as are obedient to the Gospel, the Word of
the Holy Spirit comes this morning, "Work out your own salvation with
fear and trembling. For it is God that works in you." In a certain
sense, the salvation of every person who believes in Christ is
complete–and complete without any working out on his part–seeing that
"it is finished," and we are complete in Jesus. Observe that there are
two parts of our salvation, the one complete, the other as yet
incomplete–though guaranteed to be brought to perfection.

The first part of our salvation consists of a work for us. The second,
of a work in us. The work for us is perfect– none can add to it. Jesus
Christ our Lord has offered a complete Atonement for all the offenses
of His people. He took His people into union with Himself, and by that
union they became entitled to all the merit of His righteousness. They
became partakers of His everlasting life, and inheritors of His Glory.
Saints are, therefore, saved completely so far as substitutionary work
is concerned. Such was the meaning of those majestic death-words of our
Lord, "It is finished." He had finished transgression, made an end of
sin and brought in everlasting righteousness. Thus He perfected forever
them that are set apart.

Now with the work of Christ we cannot intermeddle–we are never told to
work that out, but to receive it by faith. The blessing comes "to him
that works not, but believes on Him that justifies the ungodly."
Justification is not at all by human effort, but by the free gift of
God. The second part of salvation consists of a work in us–this is the
operation of God the Holy Spirit. As many as were redeemed by the blood
of Jesus are also, in due time, renewed in the spirit of their minds.
The Holy Spirit, in regeneration, descends into a man and creates in
him a new nature. He does not destroy the old that remains still to be
battled with and to be overcome.

Though the nature which the Spirit implants is perfect in its kind and
in its degree, yet it is not perfect in its development. It is a seed
which needs to work itself out into a tree. It is an infant which
requires to grow into the stature of a perfect man. The new nature has
in it all the elements of entire perfection, but it needs to be
expanded–brought out. To use the words of the text, worked out with
fear and trembling. God, having first worked it in, it becomes the
business of the Christian life to work out the secret inner principle
till it permeates the entire system–till it overcomes the old
nature–till it, in fact, utterly destroys inbred corruption and reigns
supreme in the man's every part–as it shall do when the Lord takes us
to dwell with Himself forever.

Understand then, it is not at all to the mediatorial work of Christ–it
is not at all with regard to the pardon of our sins, or the
justification of our persons that Paul speaks–but only with regard to
our inner spiritual life. He says of that, "Work it out with fear and
trembling. For it is God that works in you." This morning I am sure I
shall have your attention while I shall note, first, the matter to be
worked out. Secondly, the model to be worked to. Thirdly, the spirit in
which we are to work. And, fourthly, the great encouragement which is
suggested in the text for such working.

I. THE MATTER TO BE WORKED OUT is spoken of in the text as "your own
salvation." Every Christian is to be a worker for the good and
salvation of others. It is very doubtful whether a man knows the Lord
unless he desires to extend the boundaries of the Master's kingdom–but
on no account is any Christian to think that he can safely neglect the
interests of his own soul. "Work out your own salvation." Your charity
must begin at home.

You ought to seek the spread of the Truth of God, but you must first
know the Truth yourself, and you must daily seek to understand it
better. You are bound to attempt the reclaiming of the wandering, but
you must take heed lest you, yourself, wander, for however unselfish
you may become–and God grant that you may have much unselfishness–yet
still it is a law of Nature, and equally a law of Divine Grace that you
should see to self-preservation. Indeed, if you neglect this, you will
become utterly unable to do anything for the salvation of other people.
"Work out your own salvation."

Plowing another man's field, suffer not your own to lie fallow.
Indicating to another the mote in his eye, do not permit a beam to
blind yourself. You preach against the sluggard–let not the thorn and
the thistle grow in your own garden. You testify of the medicine which
Christ can give, but physician, see to it that you are yourself healed!
The first business of a Christian man should be to see that all his own
Graces are in a vigorous condition–Repentance always weeping for sin,
Faith always looking to the Cross, Patience becoming stronger to bear
her cross–Hope's eyes are clear to behold the coming Glory! Then to
faith we add courage, and to courage patience, and to patience
brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity.

We are never to sit down and fold our arms, and say, "My lifework is
over. I am saved. I have no pilgrimage to make to the Celestial City. I
wage no war for driving out the Canaanites." O Beloved, the time of
rest will come on the other side of the Jordan, but as yet it is for
you to press forward like the racer whose prize is not yet won, and to
watch like a warrior whose conflict is not ended! Your own salvation is
your first concern.

The text speaks of working out "your own salvation." Now, the matter to
be worked out is a something which the text tells us is at the same
time worked in. We may safely defy anybody to work a thing out which is
not first in. God, we are told in the second verse of our text, works
in us. Therefore it is that we are to work the inward towards the
outward. We work out, bring out, educe from within ourselves to our
exterior life, that which God constantly works in us in the interior
secret recesses of our spiritual being.

An unconverted man cannot work any good thing out, for there is nothing
worked in. If he works out that which is within, apart from what God
has worked in him, he will naturally work out that which is of his own
nature or of the devil–strife, envy, murder, and I know not what. Work
out the human heart–work out what Nature has worked in, what the devil
has worked in–and you work out the hideous criminal, or else the proud
and self-righteous Pharisee.

But, Believer, there are better principles in you, and you are to see
to the education–perhaps that is the word–to the working out from
within your own soul that which God has worked in you.

You have faith, work it out, then–act like a Believer, trust God in
daily life. You possess the incorruptible seed– bring it out,
then–let your whole conduct be incorruptibly pure and heavenly. You
profess that the Holy Spirit dwells in you, and He does so if you are a
Christian. Well, then, let your whole conduct be saturated with the
sacred influence– let it be yours to lead the heavenly life of one in
whom dwells the Lord from Heaven! Be you Christ-like, inasmuch as the
Spirit of Christ dwells in you. This is the matter to be attended to,
then–the bringing out, the working out, and developing the mine of
Divine Grace which God has worked in us.

"Your own salvation," the text says, and that is correct enough.
Holiness is salvation. We are not to work out our salvation from the
guilt of sin–that has been done by Christ. We have now to work out our
salvation from the power of sin. God has, in effect, worked that in
us–He has broken the yoke of sin in our hearts. It lives, and
struggles, and contends–but it is dethroned and our life is to be the
continual overthrow and dethronement of sin in our members. A man may
be saved from the guilt of sin, and yet at present he may not be
altogether saved from the power of pride. For instance, a saved man may
be defiled by being purse-proud, or proud of his position, or of his
talents.

Now the Believer must, with fear and trembling, work out his salvation
from that most intolerable evil. A man may be the subject of a quick
and hasty disposition. He may be often angry without a cause. My
Brother, your salvation from sin is not complete until you are saved
from a bad temper. Day by day, with solemn resolution, you should work
out your salvation from that. I might take any form of besetting sin or
any one of the temptations which come from the world, the flesh, and
the devil, and in each case bid you labor for salvation from its
bondage.

Our business is to be continually fighting for liberty from sin,
contending earnestly that we may not wear the shackles of any
infirmity, that we may not be the bond-slaves in any shape or form of
the works of the devil. We need to be working out, by vehement efforts,
after holiness. We need to be working out our entire deliverance from
sin that dwells in us, and from sin that contends without us. This, I
believe, is to be the great business of the Christian's life. I have
heard it said that the good sculptor, whenever he sees a suitable block
of marble, firmly believes that there is a statue concealed within it
and that his business is but to take away the superfluous material and
so unveil the "thing of beauty" which shall be "a joy forever."

Believer, you are that block of marble! You have been quarried by
Divine Grace and set apart for the Master's service. We cannot see the
image of Christ in you, yet, as we would wish. True, there are some
traces of it, some dim outlines of what it is to be. It is for you,
with the chisel and the mallet, with constant endeavor and holy
dependence upon God, to work out that image of Christ in yourself till
you shall be discovered to be by all men like unto your Lord and
Master! God has sketched the image of His Son in you–in the but
slightly carved marble, He has fairly outlined it–and you have but to
go on chipping away those sins, infirmities, and corruptions till the
fair likeness of the Incarnate God shall be seen by all.

You are this day, Christian, like the seed of Israel in Canaan. You
have not to escape from Egypt–you are already free. With a high hand
and with an outstretched arm God has set you free from the Pharaoh of
your sin. You have already passed through the wilderness of your
convictions–the fiery serpents and howling wilderness are all over
now–you have crossed the river, and by His Grace you are a saved man!
Jesus is the Joshua in command. He reigns and rules in your spirit. You
have not to fight your way towards the land–you are in it–for we that
have believed do enter into rest.

So what have you to do now? Why, you have to extend the kingdom within
yourself by routing one nation of sins after another! You have, in the
power of the Spirit, to hang up your corruptions before the light of
the sun–to destroy them utterly, and let not one escape! Canaan will
never be a place of rest to you till you have driven away the
Canaanites and live in the land without association with sin. This is
the matter, then, to which you are earnestly invited to attend. May the
Holy Spirit grant you Grace never to forget it so long as you live.

II. Secondly, what is THE MODEL TO BE WORKED TO? Every artist requires
some pattern or idea in his mind to which he is to work. I must beg to
refer you to the chapter itself. Taking the text according to its
connection, Paul has been urging the people here addressed to be
"like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one
mind"–in which four expressions we have the same idea. Paul would have
all God's people to be unanimous. He would have them think alike–that
is the precise interpretation of the Greek–he would have them hold the
same views, receive the same truth, contend for the same faith.

He would have them as much alike in heart as in head. They are to be
all found in the same love, not some loving the rest, but each loving
all, and not even a single person exempted. Every soul flaming with the
sacred fire! He would have them knit together in every sacred
enterprise, being of one accord, or as the Greek has it, of one
soul–as though, instead of a hundred souls enshrined in a hundred
persons, they had but one soul incarnate in a hundred bodies! He would
have all the people of God to be fused into one race, made to love each
other, in fact, fervently with a pure heart.

Now by this may we tell whether we are becoming like our Lord. What is
our standing, today, towards our fellow Christians? If there are
strifes and divisions among you, you are carnal and walk as men. From
where come divisions? Come they not from fleshly passions? Brothers and
Sisters, if you cannot work with your fellow Believers. If you cannot
feel a love towards your fellow members–you may, perhaps, feel
justified in keeping aloof from them, and speaking after the manner of
men and before men, your justification may be a good one–but, rest
assured, were you fully developed in the Divine life, you would have
enough patience to bear with the infirmity of a Brother and to overlook
his errors. You would have enough Divine Grace, also, to overcome your
own infirmities, which may, after all, be the real cause of the
division.

Brethren, when we set up different opinions, one of us must be wrong
and therefore we are not complete in knowledge. When we set up
different policies in a Church, we cannot all be equally wise.
Therefore some of us need to be better led of the Spirit of God. But,
oh, when a Church marches like the old Roman legion–every man keeping
step, and each warrior inspired as with one soul when he saw the eagle
brought to the front, and followed it to victory or death– then the
Church has life and vigor, and only then! I thank God we have had much
of this for many years, and I rejoice in it, but we still want more.
There are some hard pieces of metal among us which have not been
melted, and, therefore, are not essentially one with the general mass.
And I pray God, if at any time we shall begin to be separated in heart
from one another, the eternal Spirit would put us in the fire again and
melt us down and cast us in the same mold–and may God send the like
unity to all Christian Churches.

Melanchthon mourned, in his day, the divisions among Protestants and
sought to bring the Protestants together by a parable of the war
between the wolves and the dogs. The wolves were somewhat afraid, for
the dogs were many and strong, and therefore they sent out a spy to
observe them. On his return, the scout said, "It is true the dogs are
many, but there are not many mastiffs among them. There are dogs of so
many sorts one can hardly count them. And as for the most of them,"
said he, "they are little dogs, which bark loudly but cannot bite.
However, this did not cheer me so much," said the wolf, "as this–that
as they came marching on, I observed they were all snapping right and
left at one another, and I could see clearly that though they all hate
the wolf, yet each dog hates every other dog with all his heart."

I fear it is true, still, for there are many professors who snap right
and left–at followers of Jesus, too–when they had better save their
teeth for the wolves! If our enemies are to be put to confusion, it
must be by the united efforts of all the people of God–unity is
strength. The Lord send purity and unity to Zion, and then woe be to
your gates, O Philistia! The standard of Judah's Lion shall lead the
way to certain victory when the divisions of Reuben are healed, and
Ephraim ceases to envy her sister. Heal our divisions, O Lord, so we
shall tread down our adversaries in Your strength!

The third verse gives us another rule for guidance in our sacred
statuary, as I shall call it–it is humiliation. "Let nothing be done
through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem
others better than themselves." Speak of great works that have been
achieved by engineers, bridges cast over ravines, mountains bored? Here
is a work far more tremendous and which no man might venture to attempt
if it were not for the encouragement that God has already worked it in
him! Nothing is to be done through strife. But how much of religious
service is from top to bottom carried out in strife?

Sometimes one sect will seek to increase itself merely for the sake of
becoming larger and more influential than another. Do Sunday school
teachers ever try to get good classes and to obtain conversions that
they may be more honored than others? Does that ever enter the
classroom? Do street preachers ever wish to preach better than others,
and only in order that they may win more applause? I know this from
experience that the spirit of strife may easily enough come into the
pulpit and that the minister may be seeking to outrun his neighbor when
he thinks he is filled with zeal for God. The devil has had a finger in
the building of many places of worship–the people have strived with
one another and then they have separated and built a new chapel,
fancying that it has been all for the glory of God! Meanwhile, the
devil has felt that it has been for his glory, and he has rejoiced
therein.

Whenever I serve God out of any motive of emulation or strife, I prove
to myself that I have not worked out my salvation, from at least one
evil passion, and I have need to fear and tremble–to begin again and
labor diligently till the spirit of pride shall be driven out of my
soul. "Let nothing," again, "be done out of vainglory." But how much is
done out of vainglory? How many people dress themselves out of
vainglory? The thought is uppermost, "How do I look in this?" How many
give to God's cause out of vainglory, that they may seem to be liberal?
How often does a preacher polish his sentences and pick his words that
he may be thought to be an able orator and an eloquent preacher?
Vainglory! It is a wonder that God accepts us in any of our works at
all–in fact He never could if He did not see them washed in the
precious blood of Jesus, for in almost everything, from the lowest
member up to the most useful minister of Christ, this vainglory will
thrust itself in.

Ah, Brethren, you must work out your own salvation from this spirit of
vainglory, and do it with fear and trembling, God helping you. It is
unworthy of you to be vainglorious. It is dishonorable to God. You must
be brought down from it. The Divine arm will aid you in the struggle,
and I beseech you, as you have obeyed full many a Gospel precept from
our lips, so be obedient now, and strive against all vainglory.
Whenever I have noticed it (and I have noticed it among you) I have
been greatly pained, and pained because I may have set the example
myself. Too often workers are disposed to magnify their own labors and
think lightly of the work of others. It is remarked that such an
institution is flourishing, but somebody says at once, "Yes, yes, there
are many conversions, but I wonder whether they will all last?"

It is a miserable vice of workers to depreciate the work of other
workers–it is quite melancholy to see it in the best of people–and I
see it everywhere. People will, if they can, pull other people's work
down in order to make their own work appear to be rising rapidly. This
vainglory is all wrong! It shows all that we are not yet conformed to
the image of that great Model of perfection, Jesus Christ, the Apostle
and High Priest of our own profession.

Next, the Apostle says, "In lowliness of mind let each esteem others
better than themselves." Alas, how far we fall below this standard! How
few have attained this Divine Grace! Bunyan beautifully portrays
Christiana and Mercy coming up out of the Interpreter's house. They
have had jewels put upon them, and when they are both washed, Mercy
says to Christiana, "How comely and beautiful you look!" "No,"
Christiana said, "My Sister, I see no beauty in myself, but how lovely
you look! I think I never saw such loveliness." They were both lovely
because they could see other people's loveliness!

Your own spiritual beauty may be very much measured by what you can see
in other people. When you say, "Ah, there are no saints now," it is to
be feared that you are not one. When you complain that love is dead in
the Christian Church it must be dead in your heart, or you would not
say so. As you think of others, that you are. Out of your own mouth
shall you be condemned. Your corn shall be measured with your own
bushel. When we come to admire the good in other people that we have
not yet attained ourselves, instead of depreciating other people
because they have not something which we have–when we get to that–we
shall be evidently approaching nearer to Christ!

If the popular preacher can say, "My beloved Brother A has a smaller
congregation, and is not a very attractive preacher, yet he visits his
flock so carefully, and looks after each individual so well that I
admire him greatly, and must endeavor to imitate him." And if the man
with the small congregation says, "My Brother B studies to find out
acceptable words, and commend himself to the people of God, and he is
very earnest, and is a great soul-winner. I wish I were as earnest. I
admire it in him."

Why, these interchanges of loving estimate are infinitely more
Christ-like than for the minister with the large congregation to say,
"Brother A has mistaken his calling. He cannot get above a hundred
people to hear him–what is the good of his preaching?" And for the
lesser light to reply spitefully, "Ah, B's work is just a flash in the
pan–fine words and excitement–there's nothing in it." Satan greatly
approves of our railing at each other, but God does not! Let us learn,
this morning, to esteem others instead of depreciating them–for in
proportion as we exhibit a meek and lowly spirit, we shall be working
out our own salvation.

The Apostle lingers for one moment more to inculcate as a part of the
salvation worked out the development of the spirit of mutual love and
charity. "Look not every man on his own interests, but every man also
on the interests of others." In temporal matters do not think it to be
enough if your own business prospers–have a desire to see your
Brethren obtaining a sufficiency. Do not be so greedy as to scrape
everything to your own dish, but let other men have some share in your
concerns. If they are poor and you wealthy, help them. If they are in
straits and you possess abundance, minister to their necessities. Let
not Christ be naked and you able but unwilling to clothe Him. Let not
Christ be sick and you visit Him not. But if one member suffers, do, as
another member, suffer with him.

In spiritual things think it not enough yourself to live near to
God–take the cases of others who may have backslidden and lay them
before the Throne of Grace, and seek, by loving rebuke or gentle
admonition, to restore such as are fallen–remembering yourself, lest
you, also, be tempted. Be anxious for the good of all the members of
the Church to which you belong. In fact, so far as you can, seek the
soul prosperity of all the people of God. Observe then, my Brothers and
Sisters, the drift of the Apostle is this–if we are to work out our
own salvation it must be by putting self down in the dust and becoming
unselfish! In proportion as we are selfish we are sold under sin, but
in proportion as we are unselfish and live for others for Christ's
sake–in proportion as we value others and set a low estimate upon
ourselves–in that proportion we are advancing in Divine Grace and are
working out our own salvation from sin.

As I said before, here is the work, here is the difficulty. The descent
into the crater of sin is easy enough. How many slide into sin as
swiftly as travelers sliding down the snowy side of an Alp! But to toil
upward. To climb the hill of God– this is the work, this is the
difficulty. Blessed is that man who, leaning on the eternal arm, works
out his own salvation and is permitted to ascend the hill of the Lord
and stand in His holy place!

Before the Apostle had done with his subject, he set before the
Philippians the best model in the world. Read the next verse and see
after what image we are to be fashioned. "Let this mind be in you,
which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation,
and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness
of men. And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and
became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross."

There is your Model! Jesus stoops from Godhead to manhood, from the
Throne above the cherubim to the manger, side by side with the cattle!
Stoop, my Brother, if you would rise! If you would be great, be little!
If you would be high, be low! If you would be exalted, condescend! Yes,
and be like the Master was, for you never can be perfect without it–
willing even to give up life itself if it is for God's Glory.
Renouncing His reputation and being numbered with the transgressors,
and crucified with malefactors–He then gave up His life to
death–death in its most shameful and painful shape–the death of the
Cross! We shall not have thoroughly worked out our salvation from the
bondage of this fleshly body till we are willing to give up reputation
and honor.

If we may but serve Christ, and are willing to put our neck upon the
block, our property to shipwreck, and to give all up for Him, if so He
wills it, then we shall have thoroughly worked out our salvation! But
this is hard work! The roots of our selfishness go very deep. The
deadly cancer of self-love has thrust its horrible roots into our
souls, intertwisting them with the vital fibers of our heart. I suppose
when the last root of pride is torn away we shall ascend to be with
God. Until we are wrapped up in our death clothes we shall never have
completely worked out our own salvation. The battle ends only with
life, but we shall earn the victory, by God's Grace, for His power
within us shall help us to bring ourselves down to that heavenly
nothingness in which God is All in All.

Only then shall we master our members, subdue our inclinations, conquer
our lofty thoughts, lay low our pride– and then, then will God also
highly exalt us–as He has His dear Son! And then shall we partake in
the honor which belongs to Him and reign with Him forever and ever.
Seeing that we are humbled with Him and willing to die with Him, we
shall be exalted with Him and made to live with Him world without end!

I have thus brought before you the Model to which we are to work, as
well as the matter which we are to work out.

III. We have, in the third place in the text, THE SPIRIT IN WHICH THIS
MATTER IS TO BE WORKED OUT.

First it is to be an energetic spirit. "Work out." From the Greek word
for "work" we get our English word "energy." The bringing out of the
new nature into actual exposition in our life is a work of superlative
difficulty. Some professors appear to have imbibed the notion that the
Grace of God is a kind of opium with which men may drug themselves into
slumber, and their passion for strong doses of sleepy doctrine grows
with that which it feeds on. "God works in us," they say, "therefore
there is nothing for us to do."

Bad reasoning! False conclusion! God works, says the text, therefore we
must work out because God works in. The assistance of Divine Grace is
not given to us to put aside our own efforts, but to excite them. God
comes to us to work in us–what? To work in us to be indifferent? Ah,
no, to work in us to will with resolution and firmness! Does He work in
us, having willed, to sit still? Ah, no, He works in us to do. The
direct effect of the influence of Grace upon the heart is to make a man
active–and the more Divine Grace he has the more energetic he becomes!
A man will never overcome sin except by energy. You cannot get your
pride down, I am sure, by merely resolving to do it–you will have to
watch that old enemy and keep your eye on him as a detective watches a
thief–for when you think, "At last I have really overcome him," you
will discover him at work under another shape–and your conflict will
commence anew.

So with a hot temper. How some Brethren have had to struggle with it,
and when they have thought, "Now I really have mastered it, by the
Grace of God," then something has occurred in which the temptation has
assailed him from another corner, and the old man has set the tongue on
fire again. Yes, our life must be spent in constant watching, and, as
we find ourselves tripping, we must add constant
repentance–perpetually praying to be upheld for the future–
unceasingly struggling to attain something yet beyond, pressing forward
evermore. Evermore, I say, for to pause is to retreat, to halt is to be
driven back.

The text further says, work out your own salvation "with fear." What
kind of fear is that? If you read a Romish author, he will tell you,
"this is the fear of 'purgatory,' or the fear of Hell." And if you go
to an Arminian author, he will assure you that it is the fear of
falling from Grace and being ultimately lost. I do not believe that
this fear is ever necessary to a child of God at all. This is the fear
that genders to bondage. If I am sure that I believe in Jesus, I am no
more afraid of being lost than I am afraid that God Himself should die,
because we have Christ's word for it: "I give unto My sheep eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of
My hand."

You do not suppose that Paul, who knew that fear "has torment," and is
cast out by perfect love, would tell us to work out our salvation under
so disheartening an influence, do you?! The fear of the text is that
which makes a fear to offend so good a God–a hallowed, childlike fear,
of which we read–"Blessed is the man that fears always." A reverential
awe of the Most High. A pious dread of offending–this is the fear
which is to be cultivated by us. It is not the fear which is the enemy
of full assurance, but it is the fear which is opposed to carnal
security or recklessness.

But the "trembling"–what is that? Is that the slave's trembling? No,
this belongs not to heirs of Divine Grace– they have a trembling which
is akin to joy, for they "rejoice with trembling." Before the Lord we
do not tremble with fright, but we are moved even to quaking with a
holy awe! Under a sense of the Presence of God we tremble lest we
should sin, we tremble lest that Presence should leave, lest we should
grieve the Spirit and vex the Holy One of Israel. We know what it is to
tremble with the exceeding joy and glory of the love of God shed abroad
in our souls by the Holy Spirit. Strangers do not understand us, but
men of God will.

George Fox was called a Quaker most probably because his whole frame
seemed to shiver under the consciousness of the Divine power. We know
what it is to contend with sin under a Divine impulse, and to be filled
with tremulous anxiety while wrestling with our foe. Sin is to be
trembled at, and God also, so that there is a double cause for a solemn
awe in the business of the soul's inner life. It is no child's play,
but an awful weighty business. I pray God we may know more of holy
trembling–that the awful majesty of Divine love may be so revealed to
us that we may lie prostrate beneath its force, wondering how it is
that we are permitted to stand in the midst of such a blaze of love, a
bush burning but unconsumed. "Even our God is a consuming fire."

Many learn by that text that the Lord, out of Christ, is a consuming
fire to the wicked, and so indeed He is, but the passage means far
more. The Lord is a consuming fire to us. "Who may abide the day of His
coming? For He shall be as a refiner's fire!" He will consume in us all
that can be consumed. His own Nature in us cannot be consumed, but all
of earth and evil will be. What trembling may well seize us as we think
of this! Only that which is Himself in us will come forth out of the
furnace–that will live and flourish in the very heat of the fire–but
all else must go. Every sacrifice must be salted with fire–this is
sharp discipline–and well may we tremble at it.

IV. Lastly, without detaining you much longer, let us notice THE SWEET
ENCOURAGEMENT WHICH THE

TEXT AFFORDS. We are to work out our salvation for this reason–"It is
God which works in you to will and to do of His good pleasure." Here is
help in an exercise beyond your power! Here is help all-sufficient for
every emergency! Here is help which it ennobles you to receive. Divine
help, help which–if Satan shall put on his utmost force, and if your
corruptions shall arrive at their utmost power–shall yet be more than
equal to the day.

Grace all-sufficient dwells in you, Believer! There is a living well
springing up within you! Use the bucket, then! Keep on drawing! You
will never exhaust it! There is a living source within. Continue to
struggle–you will not exhaust the life-force which God has placed
within you. There is a growing mine of gold. Spend it! Keep on
scattering right and left. Inexhaustible, Divine wealth is yours,
therefore cease not to work it out! Observe what God works in us–He
works in us to will–the desire after holiness, the resolution to put
down sin, the pang of grief because we have sinned, the stern resolve
that we will not fall into that sin again–all, all is of God! And He
who gave the desire will surely fulfill it!

But He that gave you the will does not leave you there–He works in you
the power to do. The power to achieve the victory. The power to smite
down the loftiest plume of pride shall come from Him. God is equal to
all emergencies, therefore fear not. Though your inner life shall be
subject to 10,000 dangers, He will give you power to do the right, the
just, the lovely and the true. He works gloriously in you. That which
He works in you is pleasing in His sight. Note the words, "according to
His good pleasure." It gives God pleasure to see you holy! It is His
delight to see you self-denying–if you conquer yourself it will give
Him pleasure.

Depend upon it, then, since He is pleased with the result and has put
forth His own strong hand to bring it about. You, as you work, will not
work at a perhaps, but in absolute certainty of success. O Brothers and
Sisters, my heart glows with the hope of being altogether rid of the
power of sin! Oh, what a day that shall be when neither sin nor Satan
shall vex the pleasures of our purified spirits! What bliss will it be
to see God face to face, because the un-godlike and un-heavenly have
been altogether cast out of us! O long expected day, begin! The best
Heaven I could wish would be perfectly to be rid of myself! Perfectly
to be free from tendencies to evil! Is not this the Heaven you are
panting after? If it is, you shall have it. If you have Grace enough to
pine after it–Grace enough to labor for it–you shall yet have Grace
enough to win it! I have thus addressed God's people, and I leave the
matter with them.

I wish I could have addressed you all as Believers, but, alas, you
rebel against the Lord! You will not come to Christ, you will not trust
in Jesus! Yet, to you unbelievers I have a message–it is but a
sentence, and I have done–"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you
shall be saved." You have nothing to do with working yet. Believe
first, and when you have believed, then set to work. But, now, the
first Gospel message to you is this, "He that believes and is baptized
shall be saved." Then its awful alternative, "He that believes not
shall be damned." God save you, for Christ's sake. Amen.
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Hope in Hopeless Cases

A Sermon