9/27/26 | Will DuVal | Philippians: The Joy of Gospel Growth
Will DuVal (00:00):
Hey there everyone. This is Pastor Will recording our After the Sermon podcast episode for you by myself this week. Pastor Thad is away at a conference at Midwestern Seminary. And so I’m both your host and your question answerer this week for our After the Sermon podcast where we seek to answer your questions and share your follow-up applications from Sunday’s sermon for the benefit of the church and to remind ourselves that sermon should not just be a Sunday morning thing, but in all of life applying, living out, being doers of the word, not just hearers of the word things. So let’s dive in. I’ll begin with just a quick recap for you of Sunday’s sermon from Philippians chapter two verses 12 through 18 that starts with Paul’s kind of somewhat famous exhortation to us to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. But then immediately he says, “For it is God who works in you to will and work for his good pleasure.” So how does that work?
(01:14):
We are to work out our salvation and yet God works out the salvation he has brought for us in our lives. So we talked a lot about that, but the overall title and theme of the sermon was the joy of gospel growth, of growing in our faith, growing into this salvation that Christ has wrought in our lives for God’s glory, for our witness and ministry to those around us who do not yet have salvation and also for the edification and encouragement of the church and those brothers and sisters around us. And also because healthy things grow. And so we looked at how we grow by working and striving and putting our mind to it and effort into it, but also by simply submitting to the Lord and trusting him by obeying the Lord. We looked at in what we grow, what are the areas that Paul outlines for us in the passage here?
(02:35):
Of course, God wants us to grow in all kinds of ways, but Paul singles out our contentment. He says, “Do not grumble or argue or complain or dispute depending on your translation in anything, but in all things, be content.” And then in this way he says you’re going to be holy, blameless, innocent, pure children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and evil world out there, generation. And so we grow in our holiness, we grow in our contentment. And then finally Paul says, “And you’ll be holding fast to the word of life.” So we ought to grow in our faith as well and the fastness with which we hold to the gospel. And so again, we do it all for God’s glory, for our witness and for the church’s edification. So that was the message in a nutshell. Let’s look at some of your questions this week and see if we can do some quick answers.
(03:43):
I only got about 15 minutes here, so we’ll put me to the test. All right. Matt asked, he said, “You thoroughly covered the meaning of grumbling in verse 14, but didn’t say as much about the word disputing, the meaning of which is less apparent. Could you expound on what disputing means in this context and how it might manifest in our lives?” Thanks, Matt. So I would say maybe one way of thinking about it is that grumbling is discontent aimed at God, whereas disputing arguing is discontent aimed at others. So if you want to think about it as Jesus’ two greatest commandments, Mark 12, shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, strength, love your neighbor as yourself. So we’re supposed to love God, love others. This is in a way the failure to do so on both counts where instead of loving God, worshiping, thanking God, living gratitude, we are grumbling, we are blaming God.
(04:56):
“Gosh, I can’t believe God that you would bring this into my life. “Or whether that’s grumbling about, I mentioned some practical examples, daily examples, the service being slow, the food being cold, the sermon going too long. But really in all those cases, you’re not just grumbling about the restaurant, you’re not just grumbling. But there is a sense in which we are, when we do that, that we’re, as I mentioned, I think it was that quote from Pastor Curtis Andresco who said ultimately what is grumbling, it is in gratitude toward God. It’s a failure to trust and believe in God’s goodness and his wisdom and his sovereignty in our lives and that he is bringing whatever this traffic jam is into my life for some purpose. And I don’t understand it, maybe to just grow me impatience and contentment. So that’s grumbling. And then yeah, I would say disputing or quarrelsomeness or argumentativeness is that very same thing aimed now horizontally at others.
(06:14):
So whether that’s, I didn’t like how much playing time my child got or didn’t get in his game last Saturday, so I’m going to pick a fight with the coach or I didn’t like the teacher’s review of my child’s paper, so I’m going to send an email and reach out and start a fight.
(06:51):
I mean any number of examples from small group at church and I was trying to share this prayer request and I felt like you just tried to sort of paint a smile on it and remind me of God’s sovereignty and you didn’t really take it seriously and I’m going to pick a fight. Now, obviously with any of these things, I want to go ahead and transition to another question here and really maybe I can put two questions together. So the one I received from my own wife who said, practically speaking, how do we discern what is discontent versus helpful critique when do these lines cross? Ben Crayler asked similarly, how do we walk the line between living out loud and sharing hardships with others and complaining? Often sharing those hard things can come off as complaining unintentionally. So maybe Ben is asking more about the complaining aspect and I kind of had a joke in the sermon about that about like, well, we don’t complain.
(08:08):
I mean, we just share prayer requests. We just vent. And sometimes our sharing a prayer request with one another or whatever I think can cross that line and slip into complaining and can slip into just… And I’m sure we’ve all kind of seen that if you’ve been in the church for a while in a small group that just kind of turns into not even a counseling therapy session, but really just a gossip and venting and just blowing off steam and just a moan and groaned kind of thing. And that’s not good or biblical or healthy or helpful. I think part of the way maybe that we could answer that question is to think about your motivation. What is your motivation?
(09:06):
Is the motivation really to get prayer? I mean, is it that you have this resentment, this bitterness that’s kind of building that you just need a vent, you just need an escape vow for that to let it out? Again, maybe that’s less sanctified, the fact that that would otherwise be leading to bitterness and resentment anyway. And that certainly that resentment is coming out externally now and publicly and again, potentially in the form of something like gossip. Or is the motivation, whether it’s to get prayer or whether it’s to seek more productively positively to seek resolution and to seek others outside counsel and wisdom. I mean, Proverbs 14 tells us that there’s wisdom and an abundance of counselors. So maybe before I send that email, I need to really check my spirit. I need to have others who…
(10:20):
I just did this yesterday actually. Personally, after having preached, I was kind of complaining about something after preaching about not complaining and not grumbling and quarreling with others. I found myself doing it and Polly and I were having sort of an issue and so I reached out to another brother and said, “Hey, I just preached on this, but I brought this up to her. In my mind, this is a legitimate critique and correction and expectation I have that I’m asking for her as my spouse, but am I just being discontent and argumentative? Help me see this blind spot.” So anyway, I think that can certainly be helpful in, again, a sort of confidential matter where I’m not spreading gossip about my wife publicly or anything like that. I’m going directly to another brother I trust and say, “Hey, what do you think about this?” But yeah, I think the motivation, our motivation in it is really important.
(11:43):
Even going back to Philippians two: three and four where Paul says, “Do nothing out of vain, ambition or selfish ambition, vain conceit, but seek like Jesus to consider others above yourselves, to have more concern for them than you.” And so for instance, is my issue, is it more about my hurt, ego, and my pride or whatever being wounded or is it about my wife and actually being concerned for her and her sanctification and growth and for our marriage for that matter in that particular issue or the example of the coach not giving your kid playing time. I mean, these are all just personal. I can just draw so many examples from my own life because I grumble and complain enough to give bountiful examples. But I sent a text to the coach like, “Hey, what the heck, man? My son sat out all last game because there’s too many guys on the team.
(12:59):
Now he’s back, he’s playing and you put him on defense the entire time he didn’t get to touch the ball once. Can we mix it up? Can we give him some touches?” But is that just me complaining? Is that just me disputing picking a fight with the coach or am I seeking to critique and hopefully correct in a way that could be productive that’s maybe… And again, I think part is again, motivation. Is it just about my son or is it, “Hey, I’ve coached for many years and I’ve done this a while and it’s not cool when as a kindergarten, first grade, you don’t give him equal playing time, equal opportunities, equal…” And then it actually led to an interesting conversation between me and the coach because then he’s like, “Well, Elijah scored some goals. I wanted to give some other kids some chances to score.” Oh, okay.
(14:03):
So then we can have a conversation about equality of opportunity versus equality of outcome. Okay, so you’re penalizing him for being too good at scoring goals. Anyway, but even now I’m getting probably a little quarrelsome about it. But I think part of it too is not just the motivation going into leading, prompting that interaction, but probably to the how we go about it, check my spirit as I send that text, as I make that phone call, whatever.
(14:38):
Am I trying to really, again, vindicate myself, put this guy in his place, assert my rightness and your wrongness, get what I want? Am I trying to prove that I know better or that you’re not a good coach? Am I trying to just selfishly get playing time and goals and what I want for my kid? Or am I really, again, is it about, hey, a positive experience for all the boys on the team? And if you keep coaching this way, my son is, again, not going to be the only one getting punished for that and bearing the brunt of that. So I think all those kinds of considerations go in, motivation and my energy and how I’m going about that correction, that critique, that prayer request is really key. So you heard me say many times, check your spirit, I think is a big one.
(15:50):
That’s a great question. So thank you so much for that, Ben and Polly and Matt, really all of you. Our next question comes from John who asks, “Do you have any suggestions for what one should do? He or she is not feeling it when it comes to growing in the gospel.” I do all these things imperfectly, seeking to obey workouts, submit to God. I seek to have contentment in Christ, be pure in all things, hold fast to Christ. I seek to glorify God, reach the world, encourage the church. Nevertheless, there are times when even while doing these things, it feels like I’m faking it in hopes of eventually making it. They say fake it till you make it. I would guess more time and honest prayer with God about how I’m feeling would be beneficial, but if you have any other thoughts, I would love to hear them.
(16:40):
Thanks for sharing that, John, and being honest about that. You are definitely not alone. So just a couple quick thoughts. I think on the one hand, fake it till you make it is not sometimes the worst advice, honestly.
(16:57):
I think that when it comes to obedience, whether you feel like it or not, I think there is a time and a place for… I mean, that’s kind of the definition of discipline, right? Doing something you don’t want to do long enough that you just grow to do it unconsciously and even eventually, hopefully, desire to do it, even if it’s a hard thing, whether that’s working out or spiritually, working out your salvation and doing the hard thing. So I think there’s a place for that. I do think absolutely, as John said, probably first and foremost, a place for prayer. God, change my heart. You know my heart. I don’t want to be getting up early to be in your word this morning. I don’t want to go to church this morning. I don’t want to selflessly show more concern for my wife than myself. I want to just do it my way.
(17:55):
I don’t want to go spend my Saturday serving at the soup kitchen. I’d rather binge watch football, whatever it is that… My heart’s not in it, God. Being honest, you know my heart, but Lord, I kind of like that. I believe, help my own belief. I believe that your way is better and it’s what I need to do. Help me help the parts of my still lack of faith and lack of… There’s still those parts of my heart that sanctification has not fully reached and changed. And so praying and asking him to do that and to give us the heart and continue to change and shape and grow our hearts, I think is huge. I mean, the only other one that I really would say and encourage is the importance of community in this. I mean, I really think that this is why, as I said on Sunday, our faith, it’s a communal one.
(19:06):
And all the verbs and pronouns and stuff in Philippians two there were plural. Work out y’all’s salvation with fear and trembling, Paul says. So we are doing this side by side alongside one another, like you said in chapter one, striving with one mind side by side for the sake of the gospel. So we’re all going to fall down like Ecclesiastes four says, “Two are better than one. If one falls down, how are you going to get up if you don’t sometimes have someone to pull you up?” And so again, that’s your spouse, your family, that’s your best friends for those who are single and otherwise too, for all of us, we should have friends outside of our family. That’s your church, that’s your small group, that’s your D group, that’s your men’s ministry, that’s your seniors ministry, YAM, young adults. I mean, that’s your others in the youth group.
(20:08):
And this is God’s design for the church is kind of the note we ended on, on Sunday was encouraging the church and running this race of faith, this marathon, getting tired, wanting to quit, but seeing others besides you running, cheering you on, picking up the pace, motivating you. Okay, if she can keep going, she’s got cancer and if he can keep going and he’s got this, then yeah, I can keep going too.
(20:44):
I do think that’s a big part of it and even more actively than just being motivated in that way, being prayed for in that way, being discipled. I think that find older or wiser, more mature brothers or sisters and just ask them, “Hey, you seem to just have a really close, genuine, heartfelt personal relationship with the Lord. I want that. How do I get that?” And just be willing to sit down and allow yourself to be coached, mentored, grown. Like I said, Paul wants to serve as that for the Philippians and for us by extension. But I mean, we’ve got a lot of wonderful people at West Hills who the rest of us can stand to learn from. So will we be humble enough to ask and to allow them to pour into our lives and to speak into it? So I hope that’s helpful.
(21:51):
John, thank you. Really good and important question. Two more quick ones here. Victoria ask, let’s see. Actually, no, sorry.
(22:07):
Carrie has a application here. Ask, “What parts of my life have not been touched by the sweetness of salvation, the honey?” Then she says, “Ask that of my family.” So I encouraged us to ask that of ourselves, “Where do I need to grow and still be sanctified? Where is the gospel not reached in the recesses of my heart?” But then I think Carrie’s saying, “Will I be humble enough to not only ask it of myself, but to ask my family and to let them speak into that? Hey, where do you see me as your mom, me as your daughter, me as your wife, whatever?
(22:53):
Where do I need to grow?” And I think that’s a… Man, we’re doing that right now in my leader training discipleship group at church and literally handed reference forms to a number of folks who we lead, our spouses, our employees and whatever, children. I had Ellery filled this out for me and just being humble enough to say, “I’m not perfect. I need to grow as a person, as a leader, as a father, as a husband, whatever, boss, pastor, help me grow. Where can I grow?” And listening for their input. I would highly recommend that exercise to everyone. So thanks, Carrie. And then lastly, is it okay to ask for a plateau season, meaning no more ups and downs, but just some calm and stability, a plateau season in terms of rest if rest does indeed feel like work to rest. This is kind of, I don’t know, a point that I had mentioned in passing, but the rest, but suffice it to say, my short answer on this is I think it is okay to ask the Lord if you’ve been through a particularly tumultuous season, a lot of ups and downs and emotional and whatever, or even you think about spiritual growth and wow, yeah, we grow most through suffering, but also God, I’m tired of suffering.
(24:37):
Can I just have some rest, some calm? I think it’s perfectly acceptable for us to ask that of the Lord at times when we feel overwhelmed. Now, the flip side is I think a bold prayer is to pray and to ask God, “Would you grow me?” Because we know that he does often grow us most through adversity. And so by praying for spiritual growth when life is calm and everything’s smooth sailing and we’re just kind of coasting and it’s good, but also I’ve kind of plateaued because of it, just know that when you pray for growth, he might give it and bring it about in ways that are tough. But that’s another, on the flip side, really good and probably even more so godly prayer. Lastly, make some bread and… Oh yeah, Victoria, her public, let’s see, application here. Make some bread and add sweetness, give it to my neighbors.
(25:47):
I don’t know if she’s using the metaphor like I did spiritually like, “Hey, let God sweeten your life and then shine your light and show your love to other…” Or literally physically, she was just convicted by the spirit as I was preaching to, “Hey, I could literally make some physical bread and make it sweet bread that’s different and oh man, who doesn’t love a Hawaiian roll and give it to my neighbors is just a way to make a connection and then maybe seeing that will open up doors for them to see and receive the sweetness of my bread, of my spiritual life and the gospel. So in any case, Victoria, I think that’s either which way God is pleased by that. So thank y’all for listening. Thanks for submitting the questions. Those of you all who did keep them coming and we will see you this Sunday and catch you next week for our next after the sermon Sunday.
(26:52):
God bless guys.