It's Life No.7 Shine like a star

Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul Thank you, Lord, for making me whole Thank you, Lord, for giving to me My great salvation so rich and free Do sit down. Let's read about the stars. Stars shining in the heavens is one example.

Other examples are what you saw in the mirror this morning when you looked into it. Did you say, I am a star? Did you say, my eternal youth is beckoning me to greater attempts to make myself even more beautiful or handsome? Or did you think, oh, look at what's happened as the years have rolled by. Well, the Bible tells you, encouragingly, that there is an internal beauty as well as an external one.

Sarah, who was one of the, according to Jewish legend, three most beautiful women in the world, is nonetheless highlighted in the New Testament because of her inner beauty. Now let's go to Philippians chapter 2 and read together from verse 12. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 12.

We've got the NIV, the now indispensable version of the Bible. Then read it with me, boys and girls. If you can read and you've got a Bible, then you read it out too.

Philippians 2, verse 12. Coming on three. One, two, three.

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God, without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe, as you hold out the word of life, in order that I may boast on that day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.

But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming to her faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me. While we're reading the Old Testament, the stars sang and rejoiced at the creative ability of God.

Let's rejoice as we turn to Mission Praise 307, I will enter his gates, followed by 311, I will rejoice. I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart. Let's all stand.

I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart. Let's all stand. For he has made me glad.

311. I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart. Finally, 706, thy lovingkindness is better than life.

I'm sorry we caught some of you who didn't know that last one, but you all know this, I'm sure. I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart. Finally, 706, thy lovingkindness is better than life.

I'm sorry we caught some of you who didn't know that last one, but you all know this, I'm sure. I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart. Finally, 706, thy lovingkindness is better than life.

Have your Bibles open, please. At Philippians 2, you'll be helped a little in my address by some of the outline coming through on the overhead projector. You can be a star, you should be a star.

In fact, the Word of God says in the Daniel's chapter, his last chapter, in the third verse, those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. And the Apostle Paul, in the passage which we're looking at, tells us that we will shine like stars in the universe. You know, there's an interesting mosque just alongside the main airport in Dubai.

Dubai is one of the Gulf Emirates, which there are several. And it's an Islamic country. When I was there on Friday, taking my leave during the month of Ramadan, one could hear not only the reading of the Koran, but the address of the imam, the pastor, so to speak, which was broadcasted from the minarets, from the towers of that beautiful building.

You could hardly be anywhere in the transit lounge or international or domestic airport without hearing what the Muslim priest had to say from the Koran. I was jealous. I wish that from some church alongside Heathrow, some evangelical pastor might have the same privilege.

Driving by one of the municipal buildings, one of the government buildings in Dubai, on my approach to the airport, going on a circuitous route around a roundabout in the center of that well-cultivated garden, for that's basically what it was, was a massive, beautifully sculptured image of an open Koran. Islam giving testimony to the value that it has in what it believes to be God's Word. What we perhaps represent here in the tab, a minority within British Christianity, for our church is still committed to the exposition of Scripture.

Committed to it because we believe that God has ordained that through the foolishness of preaching, men shall come to a realization of who He is. Preaching is an old-time law. A ten-minute address, the long-for-time schedule within many churches.

Get it over with quick. We could learn from our Muslim friends at least this. We who claim to have a more exact interpretation of the mind of God within the Bible, that if that be so, then that message should be broadcasted around the world, within the localities where we are, amongst our neighborhood, spread amongst our friends.

And if the world was bereft of the Christian church, it would be like seamen on ships coming into the harbor at Shoreham, with no light to direct them at all. It would be like going through the Bay of Biscay and coming near the coast and having no warning whatsoever. For the light of Jesus is reflected in His church, and our Lord Jesus came to warn of judgment and danger.

The church can never function as a church unless she gives to the Word of God the authority that it claims for itself. I'm not bothered whether they call this the Tabernacle or Melody Land Fellowship, but I am concerned that we're known as a Bible-believing church. I couldn't care a fig as to whether I'm known or Tim is known, but I am concerned that every man, woman who enters this pulpit discharges his or her obligation of bringing to the congregation from Scripture what is the Word of God for that particular grouping on that occasion.

So it's my privilege to speak on this passage, which if you've been in during the previous two weeks, you will be recalling that the Apostle Paul has spoken of our Lord Jesus who has gone from the throne to the cross and from the cross to the throne. In an amazing act of condescension, he who flung the stars into space and caused this animate world and the inanimate part of it to come into existence actually took upon himself flesh, was born like a little child, and at the end died an awful death out of the ivory palaces into a world of woe. Only his great and matchless love made my Savior go.

And after the cross, the empty tomb. And after the tomb, the resurrection. And after the resurrection, the exaltation.

From the throne to the cross, from the cross to the throne, the highest place that him affords is his by sovereign right. Now, says Paul, what do you learn from these things? You see, Paul will never give you a Christological passage. That means he will never crack open the theology that surrounds our Lord Jesus that is basic to him.

He will never tell you about the glory of God as reflected in the face of Jesus without then coming in with a therefore. Therefore, my dear friends, because of that, this should happen. You see, Christianity doesn't just enlarge the mind.

It does that. It never bypasses the mind. Let that be said in evangelicalism today.

It needs to be repeated. It surpasses the mind because you cannot always take it in. But it's always leveled at the mind.

And therefore, knowing these things, what sort of people ought you to be? Some of you are teachers. I'll test whether you're a good teacher. What are your kids like when you're out of the room? You see, this is a concern for the apostle Paul.

You remember earlier on in the 27th verse of the first chapter, he gives his own personal circumstances. He's in jail, and the possibility is he may not be out. But he says in verse 27, whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, you're behaving.

In case you didn't get that lesson, he repeats it. Every preacher repeats. If he's a biblical preacher, here's the 12th verse of the second chapter.

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence. Whether teachers in the room or not, this is how you are to behave. What does he want you to do? First main point, he wants you, first of all, and we'll lift the points from the actual passage that we've got, these little verses, we'll highlight certain things that he says.

First of all, he wants you to work. He wants you to work hard. I mean, that's the sum total of verses 12 and 13.

Continuous, sustained, strenuous effort. Hold on a bit, Paul. Are you trying to tell us you work for your salvation? No.

But, says the apostle Paul, basically salvation is a process. It's something you've got, like a child has a piece of balsa wood and starts to make a model from that wood. He can't make the model unless he's actually got the wood, but the model isn't complete.

He's working at it. The writer's got the paper. He started his book, but the manuscript isn't finished.

He's got the tools, he's got the wherewithal, he's shaping it. Well, that's your salvation. Work at it.

In the light of what the Lord Jesus has done for you. There are two beings who are at work in this. There is the concept of men at work, and then the concept of God at work.

How should we live because we are Christians? Well, we should live in such a fashion that we bring pleasure to the Lord. We should work at our salvation as though we are very much personally committed to it. As in a responsible fashion, we show our Lord Jesus how much we love Him.

You see, it says your salvation. The pastor can't do that for you. He's got enough trouble working it out for himself.

It's personal, this thing. You're helping to shape the balsa wood. You're helping to write the manuscript.

Work at it. Work at it not only as those who are responsible, but in a dedicated way. Work it out.

Concentrate on what you're doing. Pay attention. One or two of you jolted then.

You thought you're back in your school days. Your mind was sort of just running away with nothing going through it. And suddenly the teacher said, Hey, pay attention.

In my day, you'd have got a clip around the ear, but not that I'm suggesting anybody here should have, but I'm just going back to my days as a school boy. Work it out. Your salvation is something that you're responsible for in terms of bringing to the forefront those characteristics that reflect the life of our Lord Jesus.

Work it out with concentration. Work it out because, well, you are accountable. One day the report will come with fear and trembling.

And now says the apostle, Although I'm asking you to make an effort yourself, obviously that's not the whole part of the story. For it is God who works in you. Men are at work.

God is at work. What is God's concern for you? It's to make you more like His Son. That's what He really wants.

He wants to bring you to fulfill His good purposes. What were the good purposes of the Father for Jesus? Well, you remember on one occasion He disabuses those who feel that He's come into the world simply to satisfy His own desires. I came not to do My will, but to do the will of My Father.

The works that you gave Me to do, I've done. So here is our Lord Jesus, and He's always the model. He's the Christian's model.

And we, as we consider our faith, are to work hard, but in dependence upon God who works with us in order to achieve the perfections that He wants us to reveal. Somebody once wrote a letter. I'm sure the person wasn't part of Worthingtub.

And in this letter, they concluded with some letters, single letters on their own. They'd written a note of apology. And at the end of the note, they just put, Remember, G-I-N-F-W-M-Y.

God is not finished with me yet. Thank the Lord that is true. Jesus meets Peter, seashore of Galilee, you remember.

You are Simon, but you will be. You see, He makes a distinction between the immediate and the ultimate. Jesus saw tremendous potential in Peter as He sees tremendous potential in you.

So the message of Paul is work at it. Work as though it all depended upon you, then realize that actually it's all part of God's dealings in your inner nature, bringing you to a semblance of the personality of our Lord Jesus. So let's move on.

Paul tells us to work hard, but he also tells us to shine forth. And this is what we've capitalized on in setting the scene for most of our service thus far. Look at the last part of verse 15, will you? In a crooked generation, you shine like stars.

When you're flying from Kathmandu towards Tanzen in Nepal, if you're on a low-flying aircraft or if you're driving in the highland on a bus, you will probably catch, assuming the sun is shining, the reflection of the sun's rays on the corrugated roof, which is known in Nepal throughout the whole of the country as the shining hospital. It shines because, well, the roof reflects the light of the sun. One of the first Christian hospitals established in Nepal.

That's what Paul has to say about you. So your presence in the world now, you are to shine, shine forth for the Lord Jesus. Once in Pakistan, I was going to a meeting and I felt quite scruffy.

It's not always easy to keep clean and tidy. And just as I was going down a narrow, rather broken road as far as the service was concerned, there was a young fellow and he was a shoeshine man. My service was only a few doors away from where his stand was and I stopped and, do you know, he did wonders with my shoes.

I've never seen anybody get shoes that were so filthy to look so new. I mean, he got his own method. At one point, he even applied water to the leather and I thought, well, that's never going to result in a shine.

But to the contrary, he handed me back a pair of shoes that were almost pristine, almost as good as when I first purchased them. What takes the shine off Christians? Do everything, verse 14, without complaining or arguing. The first word, complaint, refers to what you actually articulate, what you actually say.

The second word, arguing, refers to what you think. Remember the little boy who's told to stand up and so he sits down. Have you ever had that, you or teachers? Do this and do the other.

And this kid eventually did stand up. According to the story, he says, Oh, I'm standing up, really I'm sitting down in my mind. Now, it's the sitting down in your mind thing that Paul's got in his reasoning.

As he uses the word arguing, he says, Do everything without complaining. Don't constantly be sharing your niggles, articulating them, but don't bury them either because complaining Christians take the shoe shine off the personality. You see, he's back really, isn't he, this marvellous teacher.

He's back really with the third verse of this chapter. Do nothing out of selfish ambition. Consider others better than yourselves.

Be humble. Look after other people's interests. Why? Because that's when Christians shine.

Only now the argument is more powerful because he has shown you what Jesus has done. What takes the shine off? Well, what puts the shine on? It seems to me that that question is answered in the 15th verse, so that you may be blameless and pure. Again, there's an internal word, blameless, or rather an external word, blameless, and an internal word, pure, if you read it through in the original language.

Blameless to the degree that nobody can justifiably level a criticism at you. Now, that's a tall order, but we're dealing with absolutes. We're dealing with what we're aiming at, not necessarily with where we've arrived.

So thank God for those Christians who it seems to me in Worthington have actually arrived there, blameless lives. That's how the shine comes. But not just blameless in terms of the veneer, pure, so that you are comfortable with yourself.

I find that one of the hardest things in my life, to be comfortable with myself. The shine from outside, the shine from within. What makes the shine show? You try that sentence with false teeth in, it's not so easy.

Actually, mine are crowned. What makes the shine show? Well, that you might be children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation. The shine shows by way of contrast.

Paul is here, I imagine, quoting Moses. Because one of the ways that Moses would chide the Israelites in his day, when Moses was preaching, he would say, you are a perverse and a crooked generation. When John Baptist speaks about Jesus, he says that the ministry of our Lord, in its practical effects is, he will make the crooked places straight.

And he's not only thinking in terms of roots, he's thinking more in terms of personalities. I repeat, that if the church does not shine in this crooked, perverse generation, then there is no hope for humanity. How many times have you heard me from this pulpit argue that the church needs to be the church? The church is the most important organization in the world.

It's not just an organization, it's an organism, it's plugged into God. I'm not talking about the Catholic Church, or the Methodist Church, or the Presbyterian Church, or Worthing Tabernacle. I'm talking about the conglomerate number of people, the aggregate total of people who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, however they meet together on a Sunday.

That is basically unimportant, provided they do meet. It's the church that illuminates the world, reflecting the glory of God. And the reason why Islam is so strong is because the irradiation that comes from the church is so weak.

This is why this message is so necessary. It really does need to be broadcasted, not me myself, but this message needs to be broadcasted from the highest towers in London and pervade every street, every home in the metropolis, and indeed in our beloved country. What does the shine do? Well, I've already indicated this.

The shine does this. It holds out the message of life. Hold out the word of life.

Hold it out to this desperate, darkened humanity in which you find yourself living. Why? Once you were like that, you were darkness, says Paul, when he's writing to the Ephesians. Now you're light in the Lord.

But you can stare the light up. You can be as illuminated as you want to be. You can't do anything about your salvation in terms of getting it in the first instance.

Salvation is God's gift to you, but having received it, then the panorama is immense. You can be as holy as you want to be, as effective as you want to be. You can be in the spiritual aristocracy simply because you worked hard in the area of practical, personal holiness and Bible reading and so forth.

Work hard. Shine forth. Do you know what I'd like to have back in our hymn book? Jesus bids us shine with a pure, clear light.

Do you remember it? Like a little candle burning in the light, in the dark. Let's all try it. Jesus bids us shine with a pure, clear light like a little candle burning in the bright, in this world of darkness.

Oh, we shall shine. You in your small corner and I in mine. Amazing, unscripted, you take over the address.

Well, yes, you in your small corner, me in mine, shining in this world of darkness. Now, when that happens, then, somebody like the Apostle Paul has got reason to boast. I mean, this is what he's saying, isn't it? In the 16th verse, as you hold out the word of life, in order that I may boast.

There are few occasions when a believer can legitimately boast. Paul writing in Romans 3 says, where is boasting, it is excluded. But then he's dealing with salvation.

He's not saved because he's a son of Abraham. He's not saved because he sat at the feet of Gamaliel. He's saved because of the unmerited mercy and grace of God.

But, he wants such a condition to develop in Philippi that he can boast. You see, Paul's got a nightmare. Actually, he's got two.

One is personal. That means it's stimulated personally. The other is stimulated communally.

What's Paul's nightmare? His personal nightmare. It's the nightmare of every preacher. 1 Corinthians chapter 9, and towards the end of that chapter, the Apostle, in a rather unusual autobiography, speaks about himself and the fight that he has for his personal holiness.

Therefore, he says in verse 26, I do not run like a man aimlessly. I do not fight like a man beating in the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

I myself will not be a castaway. That's his nightmare, that he might lose his integrity as a preacher. He has another nightmare.

This is the communal one, and that's what comes out here. It is that having labored to the point of weariness, that's basically what I'm saying. Having labored to the point of weariness, he does not want to find the Philippians in such a compromised position that on the day that he stands before the Lord Jesus, he shall be ashamed.

He doesn't want to be in the condition of having no fruit in Philippi. But he knows that won't be the case, because, well, men are working and God is working. So Paul's nightmare is actually turned into Paul's dream.

On the day of Christ, what shall I be able to say? Well, I'll be able to take a great deal of pleasure in the fact, verse 1 of chapter 4, my brothers, you who I love and long for, my joy and crown, you have stood firm in the Lord. And he says the same thing to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 19. Now, as far as Paul's concerned, his contribution towards the well-being of the Philippians, there's a price that he has to pay.

He's got a nightmare, he's got a dream. And for the dream to displace the nightmare and for it to come into reality will demand a price. Serving the Lord Jesus can be a costly thing, and many super blessings that more than compensate for it.

But nonetheless, it is costly. And Paul indicates the measure of the cost. We know of it because we've heard him earlier on in this epistle, haven't we? And so he refers to it in metaphorical terms which are laced with Old Testament biblical concepts in the 17th verse.

Even if I'm being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I'm glad. What does it mean? The drink offering in the Old Testament was a very difficult thing, actually, to work out its significance. And what you can at least conclude is this.

It was a small sacrifice that prepared for a larger sacrifice. In other words, the drink offering put the final touches to the more important sacrifice. Now, this is the pastoral heart of Paul.

He's so humble. He says, you people in Philippi, you're going through it. I know what it's like.

I know what it's like for you to live as saints in Philippi. It's difficult. Told them in the first chapter, didn't he, that you're paying an enormous price? And indeed, he suggests that their price for being followers of Jesus is greater than his own.

Now, they would have denied it, I'm sure, and we would say in retrospect, Paul, that can't be true. But this was his personal evaluation. All right, he says, I'm suffering.

I'm suffering here in Rome, and one of the reasons I'm suffering is that I've preached the gospel at Philippi and elsewhere. He said, I'm poured out as a libation offering. That's only to make possible your greater offering, the sacrificing of yourself.

I think that's magnificent reasoning. Here's Paul, you see, he's not got a big head. This brilliant man, this little hook-nosed Jew who perhaps had no physical characteristics that would attract people, this man who's gone through Asia Minor like a bleeding rabbit in the snow, leaving his footprints, and yet when he looks at his beloved Philippians from his jail in Rome, he says, all I've done is just an insignificant offering.

I've put the finishing touches together so that you can do even more than me, serving the Lord Jesus, shining his lights. Now, brothers, what should we do then? Because we're poor, demented Christian people, let's all be miserable. Let's all be mournful.

Let's have our special uniform, our special liturgy. Let's force ourselves into doing things that we don't want to do. Not a bit.

The apostle Paul says, I'm glad and rejoice with all of you, so you too should be glad and rejoice with me. Why? This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. All over Worthing, it shall shine, this little light of mine.

Nobody's going to put it out, this little light of mine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. The greatest honor for any man, woman, is to shine for Jesus Christ.

Shine in the spiritual way that the shining hospital shines literally reflecting the light of the sun, so you reflect the light of the glory of God as you've seen it in Christ Jesus. Remember the little lad who had a problem when he came home from school? They taught him Sunday school, they taught him a new chorus. He's crying, and mom says to the lad, why are you crying? He said, I don't like the chorus.

What's the chorus? Jesus wants me for a sunbeam. Why are you crying? I want to be a train driver. Jesus has called us to be sunbeams, to shine for him.

And the example par excellence, the stimuli, are the various aspects of the life of our Lord Jesus, from the throne to the cross, back to the throne. If he did that, you should do this. Shine for him.

Let's go to a traditional hymn, which we won't sing too slowly, but we want also to mean the words. 522, oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus. It's this love that surrounds us, this love that stimulates us, it's this love into which we're plugged that enables us to shine in measure for him.

522. Stand. The deep, deep love of Jesus, the salvation of this free, holy man, made his own.

The deep, deep love of Jesus, tell me now, let me see him. Father, we're grateful that you should cause us to shine for you. Lord, we think you made a terrible choice, but we thank you that that shows even more your miraculous nature.

You take the dull and lustrous things and you give them a charismatic attraction by the wooings and the workings of your spirit. So be with us. Help us never to be niggardly with one another or bitter within our spirits.

Enable us to shine and may men see us shine and come to a knowledge of the great gospel, the everlasting gospel of the great God as a result. Lord Jesus, may we see you more clearly, love you more dearly, follow you more nearly all our lives. Amen.

Good morning. God bless you. Thanks for coming.