“We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work of faith, labor of love, and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

                    –1 Thessalonians 1:3 (HCSB)
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               “Therefore, my dear ones, as you have always obeyed [my suggestions], so now, not only [with the enthusiasm you would show] in my presence but much more because I am absent, work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ).”
                          –Philippians 2:12(Amplified)

For some reason this verse seems to baffle many people.  It is that one little phrase, “work out.”  It is that phrase that frustrates so many Christians.  I purposely used the Amplified Version to give a clearer picture of the verse.  The Greek word for work is, “katergazomai” which means to “achieve, effect by toil, work out” (Vine).   The NKJV Study Bible gives some background as to the meaning.  It was used to describe the digging of silver out of silver mines.  “Thus salvation can be compared to a huge gift that needs to be unwrapped for one’s thorough enjoyment.”  We are to cultivate our salvation and bring it to full effect.  In other words, pursue spiritual maturity.
       Salvation is a gift–never forget that.  “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8, NKJV)  It has already been paid for, the work has already been accomplished.  Yet, now, once we are saved we begin to “work out” our salvation.  We do not “work for” but we “work out.”  Get that for it’s vitally important!
       Let me give a few examples.  A person might give you a jigsaw puzzle–that is the gift.  Now, it is up to you to put it together; to work it out.  The gift is ours, now we are to put it together.  Another way to look at it might be the illustration that was used by Charles Atlas.  Some of you might remember the ads for his workout regimine.  There is a young, puny-looking lad, frail, spindly and a muscle-man comes by where he is sitting and kicks sand in his face.  The boy has a body, but it is not developed.  He must “work out” to make it into an intimidating physical specimen.  He goes to the gym, looks in the mirror at his weak body, then begins to lift weights, run, and does calisthenics.  His body begins to change and with it his attitude.  He is “working out.”
       One more example:  hold that baby in your arms.  My what a sweet little thing and you stand it on its feet, and splat, it goes right on its face.  You determine that you will never let it out of your arms.  But then what about your life?  So eventually, over time, you watch and guard the baby as it grows from babyhood to becoming a toddler with all of the bruises that go with it.  From those first steps, he is working out his muscles, gaining confidence, and moving on toward the next stage of life.
       In other words, to “work out” means to develop who you are in Christ.  Oh, you may fall along the way, get some scraps on your arms and scratches on your knees, but you are progressing.  The Holy Spirit is within you and whether you realize it or not there is a magnificent fruit growing in you.  Alistair Begg states, “the Christian life is a joyful–and at times painful–voyage of discovery.”  We are now to walk, to live out, to act out Paul’s instruction regarding our salvation.
       I am going to borrow some more from Begg in describing how to “work out.”  “The call to work out our salvation is a call to consistency.  Just as we called on the name of the Lord to save us at the start of our Christian lives, so we must continue to call on His name.  This takes very ordinary, practical forms in our lives.  We continue to come before God in prayer.  We continue to gather with fellow believers for worship.  We continue to hear from Him in Scriptures.  We continue to strive to walk in His grace, putting sin to death and growing in spiritual fruit.  We work at the Christian life, for we remember that no one matures as a believer by accident.”
       We do not need to work for our salvation nor do we need to work on our salvation.  That part is finished and the work has been secured.  Now, we are to “work out” our salvation so that we are in shape–more and more like Christ.  That’s why 1 John is such an important book.  If we fail in our working out we can go to Christ who will forgive and cleanse us (1 John 1:9).  This verse is for the Christian who is working out his salvation.  We don’t jump from the light once we are walking in it over into darkness, then back into the light and so on.  We walk in the light, working out our salvation.

                    –Harold Bell Wright  (The Shepherd of the Hills)

       “Remember how short my life is.  Have You created everyone for nothing?  What man can live and never see death?  Who can save himself from the power of Sheol?”

                    –Psalm 89:47-48 (HCSB)
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“Our days on earth are as a shadow, and without hope.” (1 Chronicles 29:15, NKJV)  I don’t know if this is a lament from David, or a statement of reality.  For those who do not know Christ it shows a hopeless and wasted life, but one with Christ, life becomes more than a shadow.  David writes further regarding this brevity of life.

          “As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourishes.  For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.  But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children.”
                    –Psalm 103:15-17 (NKJV)

     Life is brief, that is the reality of life.  It is a fact that all will eventually come to life’s end.  All will die, never more to tread along the journey of life.  It may be seventy years or less; some may be granted more, but the fact is that it will end.  
     Look at what David said–“our days are like a shadow.”  A shadow has no substance; it cannot be grasped.  Many times I have been camping or hiking in the forests.  I have watched the “wisp-of-smoke” rise from a campfire and suddenly disappear.  I have watched the mist lying low upon the ground begin to rise and suddenly it is no more.  Once lifted there is not even a trace.
     Someone has said, “Life is a series of breaths ordered by God to the fulfillment of purpose and then we leave this world sometimes way too soon.”  We are but a thread in this thing we call “time.”  And only a speck of dust in view of eternity; yet, yet this is a time appointed to each of us.  The question is, what do we do with it?  It was Seneca who said that, “the human span is long enough if time is properly employed–which it seldom is.”  
     Job says that, “Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.  He comes forth like a flower and fades away; he flees like a shadow and does not continue.” (Job 14:1-2, NKJV)  He continues in verse 5, “Since his days are determined, the number of his months is with You; You have appointed his limits, so that he cannot pass.” (NKJV)  “Tomorrow is not promised.  We may plan for it, but we may not assume we can control it.” (Alistair Begg)  Our time, down to the last second is determined by God.
     So what do we do with this limited time?  Do we simply fade as the mist into the air?  Do we race the clock, trying desperately to get all done that we wanted to do in this moment of eternity?  Begg writes, “The wise person knows that we have limited time and that the best way to spend it is on the Lord’s errands.”  Our responsibility in this life that the Lord has given us is to grow in conformity to Christ.  We are mortals, yet we are here for a purpose.  However, this life should have purpose, and first and foremost is to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  Then, and only then, is there more than a shadow to our life.  Then, there is more substance to our life; it is not like the wisp of smoke.
Then secondly, our purpose is to be conformed to Christ, and thirdly, to further the kingdom of God.  Ultimately our purpose is “To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”

                    –Zechariah 10:5 (NKJV)
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I want to look at a few more similarities between David and Jesus.  I know we have to be careful with types, shadows, and symbols.  Too much liberty can be taken, but at the same time we should not forsake them completely.  
       We read in 1 Samuel 17:17, that David was sent by his father to the battlefield.  He had been keeping the sheep, but now would soon be embroiled in conflict.  Jesus was sent by His Father, “As we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.” (1 John 4:14, NKJV)  He was somewhat in isolation in heaven with the Father, as David was in the wilderness with the sheep, but soon both would find themselves in a battle, not only for their lives, but for the lives of others.
       I mentioned last week that David was scorned by his brothers, especially Eliab.  We also know that our Lord was scorned by His own brothers, but also the people of Israel.  When Saul questioned David’s credentials, David told about the lion and the bear which he fought to protect his sheep.  Saul, I believe, in his mind ridiculed the thought of David fighting Goliath.  He told David that he was but a youth, while Goliath was a man of war, trained from his youth (1 Samuel 17:33).  Jesus, before He met the “giant” on Calvary had faced the devil previously in the wilderness.  Redpath says, “He had a private conflict face-to-face with the devil in the wilderness, and defeated him there.”  We also do not know of other times that the vile serpent may have tried to deceive the Lord, tried to trip Him with one of His snares.
       David was sustained by the Word of God and his faith.  “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin.  But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defiled…  Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with the sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give you into our hands.” (1 Samuel 17:45,47, NKJV)  With that David stepped forward.  Christ defeated the devil in the wilderness over and over with the Word of God.  With each attack, Jesus replied, “It is written.”  He will again be victorious when He bursts out of the grave.
       Saul wanted to make David look like a warrior, or at least a soldier.  But David did not need that.  He knew his weapons and the warrior-ethos was engraved in his heart.  David strode, sling in hand and in faith toward Goliath.  At some point he began to whirl his sling, around and around, and at the right moment, he released it.  All his training, all his faith came together in that moment and the rock struck Goliath in the forehead.  He fell to the ground and David then cut off his head with the giant’s own sword.  Victory!
       The Philistines, instead of surrendering as Goliath promised, fled the scene with the Israelites giving chase.  David won the victory, but all of Israel shared in it.  Jesus won the victory at Calvary and in His coming forth from the tomb.  He was victorious over the enemy not only for Himself, but for all who would accept this victory and follow Him.  David had prepared himself, not only physically, but in private He was with God.  Before he entered the public fight with Goliath, he has spent time with God.  Jesus knew the will of the Father.  He didn’t go into the way of the cross unprepared, ignorant, but He knew His mission and He fulfilled it.  To face the giants of our lives we must be strengthened by the knowledge of our weapons, through experience, and then sustained by the Word of God.
       Goliath was powerful of that there is no doubt.  But we, as David, have the Spirit’s anointing.  We have His power and authority.  Too often, however, we become like Saul, we forfeit that anointing.  We try to face the giants on our own.  We forget that He is the God of today; that He is a “living power in our hearts!” (Redpath)  “In Saul’s mind, God was absent from the whole conflict; He didn’t enter into it.  But in David’s mind, God was the greatest reality of all.” (Redpath)  Far too often we are like Saul, we “imitate the devil’s methods, to try to resist Satan by the same kind of program and technique, ability, and organization, which he himself has perfected.” (Redpath)  We must face the giants in the might and power of the Holy Spirit.  We must know–I repeat, we must know that it is “‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6, NKJV)