Sabbath School 1st Quarter 2026: Uniting Heaven & Earth: Christ in Philippians and Colossians

Eric Flickinger

Clinton Wahlen

It Is Written

05 Shining as Lights in the Night

Welcome to Sabbath School brought to you by It Is Written.

We are taking a look this quarter at how God wants to unite heaven and earth.

We're looking at Christ in the books of Philippians and Colossians.

And this week on Lesson 5, we're looking at how we can shine as lights in the night.

Father, we're grateful to be here today as we continue to learn more about Christ through the writings of Paul.

We ask that your blessing would be upon us as we seek to learn more of him so that He can sit more fully on the thrones of our hearts.

We're also grateful to have with us once again, the author of this quarter's Sabbath school lesson, that's Dr.

He is an associate director of the Biblical Research Institute, and he especially loves the New Testament and hermeneutics, and we're grateful to have him with us.

We're kind of getting into the middle section here of what we're going to be studying.

This week we're looking at shining as lights in the night.

And we're gonna delve into a passage or 2 here that sometimes are a little bit misunderstood.

There's some miscomprehension here, but I think By the time our lesson today is done, we're going to get a better understanding of what Paul meant, and honestly, what God meant through Paul as he writes these things.

In chapter 2, in verse number 12, this is Philippians chapter 2 and verse number 12, We see a passage here where Paul writes, therefore my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence.

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Now, someone might look at that and say, well, I can work out my own salvation.

Or I need to, or my salvation is by works.

So there's different ways that you could misinterpret and misunderstand this passage.

My guess is it probably lines up with everything else in the Bible, but how do we get there?

Well, actually, it doesn't really sound like Paul, does it?

We hear him, you know, it's not by works, but by faith alone.

And so when we hear him say, work out your own salvation, did Paul really write this?

And yes, it's from Paul, and sometimes it's just, you know, it's not legalism.

Paul doesn't have a legalistic bone in his body.

But sometimes it's just a matter of looking at it in its context.

So yes, sometimes we hear just a snippet, even of a verse as this is, work out your own salvation.

And if we read it in its context, it becomes much clearer.

So for example, reading verse 13, which immediately follows, well, start work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

4, verse 13, it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." So Paul makes it very clear that what we're working out is what God has already worked in.

It's not anything that we can manufacture.

You know, this lesson is about shining as lights, but we cannot create light.

He's the 1 who said in the beginning, let there be light.

And if we have any light at all, it's light that we've received from Him.

So this is God working in us, and as a result of the work that God is doing in us, then that is coming out.

So it's not, As you said, we're not producing the light.

We're just letting, like Jesus said, let your light so shine before men.

And that's light that we're reflecting to the world.

It's not light that we are, it is not a self-originating light.

It's a light that we are reflecting toward others.

It makes a big difference if we understand it that way.

Yeah, Jesus is called the Son of Righteousness, right?

The sun is the source of light for our planet, but the moon reflects that light.

And that's kind of the relationship we have with Jesus.

We're like the moon, we reflect his light.

It's not anything we can generate, nothing that we can produce, but it's his light, his love, his righteousness that shines through us, hopefully.

And I think in looking at this verse in its context, reading the following verse that really helps to explain it very nicely, there's a lesson here for us in how we study the rest of the Bible as well.

Because you can kind of, you can cherry pick little verses here and there or portions of verses, I've seen that done plenty, and try to make the Bible say what you want it to say or what you wish it would say or something that fits in with the rest of your theological bent or direction rather than just letting it speak for itself.

And reading it in context and as you mentioned, comparing what Paul writes here to things that Paul writes in other places in the Bible, it helps us to get a more, I don't know if I like the word, balanced, more complete, more clear picture of what Paul is actually writing.

And that doesn't just apply to Paul, it applies to everywhere else in the Bible.

We need to take what I would say a gradually slow zoom out approach to study the Bible.

So we start with a verse and we zoom out a little as we did here, look at not just the 1 snippet or the 1 verse, but the larger phrase and sentence and paragraph.

And even here in Philippians, we'll see in a later study when we come to Philippians chapter 3, that Paul unpacks this even further, what it means that God works in, we work out what God works in, how that actually functions in practice.

We'll see that in more detail when we look at chapter 3.

Alright, and we're getting there, we're getting close to it.

Now you called this lesson, this week's lesson, Shining as Lights in the Night.

What does that mean in practice for us to shine as lights in the night?

Well, first of all, of course, Paul talks about it in Philippians chapter 2, verses 14 and 15.

So the next few verses, he says, do all things without complaining and disputing that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in the world." So we're to shine.

You know, Jesus said, I am the light of the world.

And as you mentioned, he also said, you are the light of the world.

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father, which is in heaven.

And so the light we receive from Jesus, we are to shine, and we shouldn't be shy about shining, because that is how we can make the most impact for the Lord.

You know, I live in a city which is, you know, got a lot of artificial light.

We can see probably Venus, you know, at the planet that's fairly close to our Earth and maybe some very bright stars, but not very much.

It's only when you go out into where it's very dark that the stars shine more brightly.

And that's a good analogy for what the Christian life is like.

You know, we might feel sometimes that we're all alone, that people around us don't see things the way we do.

We kind of stick out, we don't want to stick out.

But actually, the Lord may want us to be different.

He may want us to be noticed, not because we're peculiar, but because there's something attractive.

There is a light, a love, a winsomeness of Jesus about us.

So there ought to be something different about us, something that separates us from the rest of the world.

Sometimes I run into Christians, well-meaning Christians I would say, who say, well, you know, If we're so different from the world, what interest are they gonna have in us?

How is that gonna draw somebody to us if we're so different?

Well, I mean, I would counter if we were the same as them, what interest would they have in us if we're the same?

There should be, as you've said here, as Paul says, a light in us.

Now, most of the time, we consider light to be a positive thing.

You know, when it's dark, we turn on a light so that we can see.

And so he wants us to be these lights in a dark place.

If we're not being lights in a dark world, what does that look like?

Talking Points 1st Quarter 2026: Uniting Heaven and Earth: Christ in Philippians and Colossians

Kameron DeVasher

Mark Howard

Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

I'm Cameron DeBasier and I'm Mark Howard and this is Talking Points.

We're continuing our study of uniting heaven and earth, Christ, in Philippians and Colossians.

Pastor Howard, you were covering our, you outlined our last week's lesson, and it covered the first half of Philippians chapter 2.

Exactly, I think your assumption's right.

We're in the second half of Philippians 2.

Drum roll please, we pick up from chapter 2, verse 12 and onward today.

Well listen, I appreciate it because, you know, for the first couple we had this juggling of Philippians, Colossians together in the same lesson.

So it looks like we're gonna go through Philippians and then Colossians.

Yeah, well so far these last few lessons especially have flowed really nicely.

Anyway, the title of this week's lesson is Shining as Lights in the Night.

And of course, like I put in the little introductory statement, this week we look at Paul's instruction in Philippians 2, verses 12 through 30.

Some intensely practical things that we're going to get into here.

I don't think we have any other things we need to discuss before we get started, So could you give us a word of prayer?

Father in heaven, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for moving upon the apostle, even in prison, to give this counsel that even echoes to us down here at the end of time.

We pray that you would send your Holy Spirit to give us understanding as we present this lesson, and as our teachers are teaching this around the world, that it would be for the edification of the Church and the furtherance of our mission.

Well, interestingly, this passage is kind of outlined in 3 talking points as it is.

So you might notice that, that he starts with a section in verses 12 and 13 that we're going to look at.

Then there's another section in 14 down through about 18.

And then we're gonna look at verses 19 and 30 as 1 chunk.

So our talking points go in a sequence, just commenting on what Paul is commenting to us about.

And we start with talk point number 1, we work out what God works in.

Now that's coming from Sunday primarily and also the title of that lesson is taken directly from Sunday's lesson so I didn't think it up but the author didn't think this 1 up either.

That came from Ellen White's writings in several places, so it's a great concept and we'll see what it means to work out our own salvation.

Then talking point number 2, God expects us to be light and to bear light.

Okay, so what does it mean to be a light shining in darkness and is there something we can dig into a little deeper there?

Okay, and that's coming from Monday and Tuesday's lesson.

And finally, we should appreciate faithful laborers.

And that comes from Wednesday and Thursday as we close out the week.

If you please so kind as to read Philippians 2, verses 12 and 13.

Now, anytime you read the word, therefore, you go back and find out what is therefore.

It's chapter 2 started with the word therefore, now we're to therefore again, so we're just building, building, building.

Well and clearly whatever we studied last week was laying the foundation for the application here so it goes on.

Therefore my beloved as you have always obeyed not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence work out your own salvation with fear and trembling For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure." I don't know if Paul knew that he stepped on a landmine there that people would be discussing 2, 000 years later, but he put the word work and salvation in the same sentence in a positive manner.

Usually he's the we think of Paul as the 1 who says and not by works and not by works but here he seems to be affirming the role of work.

He says work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

So there's some people might question well is Paul being contradictory to the gospel, which he himself wrote?

Is he confused about the message of salvation?

And, of course, we're going to affirm that Paul was not in the least bit confused.

He didn't contradict himself or the gospel, but he's being clear.

So first of all Sub point here is that let's remind ourself that Paul repeatedly Reminds us that we are not saved by our works.

Okay, for example in Romans 3 verse 28 she says man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law.

Galatians 2 16 man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ For by works of the law by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

Amen Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 and 9 by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourself It is the gift of God not of works lest anyone should boast So the same Paul who wrote here to work out your own salvation had said to the Romans, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, that it's not by works.

So either he's being inconsistent, which I refuse to accept, or we're not reading this correctly, that this is not intention, but these are complementary concepts that they're actually working together.

I was, but it's kind of bit you're building into.

Okay, so what I would propose is that Paul and Philippians 2 here, verses 12 and 13, is simply addressing the practical application of God's saving grace in our lives.

He's not saying, here's how you get salvation by working out, but he says to work out that salvation.

Salvation is something we have from God but it's still incumbent upon us to quote work it out in our lives.

Yeah so I was gonna comment on that that in each case justified, justified, saved.

We're not saved or justified by our works but that doesn't mean works don't have a place.

And it was my friend, the late Richard O.

Phil, who used to say, we're not saved by works, but we never seem to ask the follow-up question, how do saved people live?

And so we're talking about, oh, we're not saved that way.

And that's where it looks like the Apostle is going here.

Yes, and a lot of things, I think there's some confusion in the modern Christian world that like we have so separated faith and works that I have faith in Christ and so my works they could be better they could be worse but it's completely detached from salvation like faith is salvation works as a part over here and Paul doesn't seem to make that fine distinction.

Prior to salvation our works you know it's like our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.

So to have works that are actions that are good or beneficial in any way has to first come through the empowering of the Spirit of God.

Yeah, that dichotomy seems to imply that we have some good works but they don't earn salvation.

Your point is we don't have any good works apart from salvation at all.

You know the old Olympic thing and you know it's like oh it's 7 point you know 7, 7 and a half whatever.

It would be a big fat 0 like no that was a 0.

GYC 2025: Seeing the Invisible

Biblical Faith - Secular World

Jordan Reichert

Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

The Investigative Judgment: What...?

Last Day Events, The Remnant, and Church Organization

Mark Finley

05 The Triumph of God’s End Time Church

The Remnant: Elitism or Evangelism?

We are now bridging a gap in our fourth presentation, 4 or 5 presentations.

The first 3 dealt with sort of general Christian apologetics in the sense of, you know, what about a person who is, you know, unchurched, you know, more of a secular mindset?

How would we, you know, how do we answer questions like is God even relevant anymore in the 21st century?

We moved into the reality that actually what we have available to us in the New Testament is essentially the best historically attested document from the ancient world.

I think that was just cool, powerful stuff.

We talked about the resurrection of Jesus.

There really was a man named Jesus of Nazareth who lived when the gospel account said that he did, where they said he did, who died a real death, who was God in human flesh, made those claims, but then vindicated every 1 of his claims when he rose from the dead, a real event in history, yeah?

We would not be here, there'd be no generation of youth for Christ if he wasn't risen from the dead, right?

Because you have to have Christ to have a generation of youth for Christ.

And then in the last session just now, we talked about the quiet and the pain.

Where is God in terms of, it seems like quiet, if somebody said, oh yeah, there's a God and there's, you know, he's capable of miracles and all sorts of things You're like, well, I don't really see that kind of stuff happening in the world the same way that I seem to read it in The Bible, right?

So we talked about some of that but then even probably more importantly we talked about How do we wrestle through the pain and the agony of real sorrow and trauma and evil that we experience in this world in the light of the fact that the Bible says that God is all-powerful and all-good, right?

And the heart of it basically came to, I don't know, what did we come to, friends?

What was the big slam-bang finish about it?

The story of the cross, the message of the gospel is that God himself knows what it is to suffer.

If any of this is interesting to you, let me know and I'm happy to hook you up with any further extended resources because I'm like I'm like this smart and there's other people who are a whole lot smarter, right and so but welcome Today we are venturing now into The first of 2 specifically more Adventist style topics.

I think that it's I think that it sometimes you know produces this mental image Of the person who's like basically got you machine gun against the wall and they're like no you're gonna you're gonna hear all my good Reasoning and then you are going to factually assent to being a believer, right?

Yeah Right, and then you when you get to the pearly gates you will pass you will pass the basic 25 you know 25 multiple-choice question test that makes you qualify to be a man it's like no not at all it's gonna be a lot of people Matthew 7 says that come rolling up to Jesus we're gonna say Lord do we do all these amazing things in your name in other words weren't we super present truth people Didn't we do a lot of incredible things?

We did seminars, we cast out demons in your name, we did incredible things.

Jesus will say, apart from me, I never knew you, you workers of lawlessness.

My goodness, all this time you thought heaven was a place, turns out heaven's a person.

So we're gonna talk today about something that's really on my heart and we'll start off with a word of prayer.

Father, I'm a big fool, but I determined to know nothing else except you and you crucified.

And I ask that you'd speak through that, the willingness of a fool who said yes, and God, that you guide your people here, that you've brought here.

I will never know most of them till eternity, but for whatever reason You have brought The paths and the strands of our lives to this moment to this room for this time and I ask that you'd make it something that needs to be what it needs to be.

I pray this in Jesus name shield me if I'm gonna say something that's wrong.

The imperative from our friend Peter, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you yet do it with what?

You're not gonna do it in gentleness and respect.

It wasn't Jesus speaking through you, right?

You can still say something that's true and that's hard cutting and hard hitting but you can do it in a way that's gentle and respectful but always have a reason for the hope that is in you.

Don't be like my friend who called me up 1 day and said hey I'm talking to this guy here what is it that we believe about hell again?

Well For those of you who don't understand the joke, you know, if you have to ask that, you don't actually believe it, right?

Sister White says this, there's an eloquence far more powerful than the eloquence of words and the quiet, consistent life of a pure, true Christian.

For the sake of time, I'm going to jump into this next bit of it Look what she says here only through a living faith in Christ as a personal Savior Is it possible to make our influence felt in a skeptical world.

No other influence that can surround the human soul has such power as the influence of an unselfish life.

The strongest argument in favor of the gospel is a loving and lovable Christian.

If you get nothing else, hold on to Jesus.

And when your friends and your people and your community and your circles ask you questions about your faith, let the presence and the person and the love of Jesus shine through more than your ability to be very articulate and have good answers.

People aren't looking for you to always have the right answers.

Sometimes they're looking for you to be the presence of Jesus in their life, right?

Which might look more like, I mean, like in Elijah's case, it meant like a nap and making him some food, right?

You remember that story love that story so good the remnant elitism or evangelism Start off with a question each time.

I'm gonna have you I'm a classroom teacher Turn to somebody next to you Imagine that somebody casually strikes up a conversation with you and you mention that you're, oh yeah, we're Seventh-day Adventists, and they're like, oh, you know, the knowing, oh, yeah, okay, yeah, yeah.

Back to Menu

All Teachings

05 Shining as Lights in the Night

28m

05 Shining as Lights in the Night

30m

The Investigative Judgment: What...?

1h 4m

05 The Triumph of God’s End Time Church

45m

The Remnant: Elitism or Evangelism?

51m

05 Sobriety and the End of Time: The Need of a Clear Mind to Avoid Deception

1h 8m

04 The Shaking, the Sifting, and the Remnant Church

45m

The Quiet and the Pain: Where is God?

50m

04 Healing the Brain After Addiction: The Power of Our Health Message

59m

03 The Rise of a Prophetic Movement

1h 2m

The Word: Is it Reliable? Is He Alive?

52m

03 The New Drug: Pornography and Sex Addiction

59m

Sound Doctrine