All right, well, thank you for your patience.
Philippians chapter 1.
Our sermon text today is Philippians 1-6,
but I'd like to read the whole prayer,
so we're going to read verses 1 through 11.
Philippians 1, verses 1 through 11.
And I read this trusting that it is God's inspired,
inerrant, infallible, clear, and sufficient word.
It's God's very own word for you, His people.
Paul and Timothy, bondservants of Jesus Christ,
to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi,
with the bishops and deacons,
grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
always in every prayer of mine,
making requests for you all with joy
for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.
being confident of this very thing,
that He who has begun a good work in you,
will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
Just as it is right for me to think this of you all,
because I have you in my heart,
inasmuch as both in my chains
and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel,
you all are partakers with me of grace.
For God is my witness,
how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.
Verse 9,
And this I pray that your love may abound still more and more
in knowledge and all discernment,
that you may approve the things that are excellent,
that you may be sincere and without offense
till the day of Christ,
being filled with the fruits of righteousness,
which are by Jesus Christ,
to the glory and praise of God.
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
You may be seated.
Let's pray.
Father, thank you for how your Holy Spirit illumines to us
a glimpse of the eternal reality
that Jesus Christ,
God the Son,
He took on flesh.
He accomplished the mission the Father gave Him to do.
That He is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.
And one day He will come.
And He will judge the living and the dead
according to your standard.
We praise you, Lord,
that though you owe man nothing,
you could have left us in our fallen sinful state,
you have come through Jesus Christ
to bring a people to yourself.
We thank you that you are still at work
completing in your people
that which Jesus Christ finished
in His life, death, and resurrection.
We pray, Lord,
that through the ministry of your word,
you will accomplish that
in whoever you give eyes to see
and ears to hear.
And we pray that more will come, Lord.
More will come to know
how good and how gracious you are.
For your glory we ask.
Amen.
When you get to watch a master craftsman
at his work,
it holds you for a while, doesn't it?
I can just be amazed
watching so many people
that are good at their craft
do their work.
I had a very simple repair
that needed to be done.
It was a rock that hit my windshield.
And I just had to stand there
and observe and watch him come
and put the machine on
and scrape out the bits of glass.
And just to watch someone
really good at what they do
fix a piece of glass
was fascinating to me.
I was gripped.
I remember a sign
at a mechanic shop growing up
and it was something like
$50 to fix your car,
$75 if you watch,
and then $100 if you ask questions,
$150 if you try to help.
So, to watch is one thing.
The beautiful thing, though,
is that in Jesus Christ,
as he pulls us into his church,
we get to watch the master work.
I'd like to draw your attention
one more time to verse 6 in our text.
Philippians 1.6
Paul has his eyes open
to the work that God is doing.
And it fills him with joy
and thanksgiving and confidence.
And he writes,
I am confident of this very thing
that he who began a good work in you
will complete it
until the day of Jesus Christ.
Well, I encourage you
to memorize this verse.
And I challenge you to do it
in the next 30 minutes.
And to help you,
I'm going to read it for you
about six times as we go.
And all I want to do this morning
is apply this beautiful truth
to five categories of people
focused on one word or phrase
in Philippians 1.6 each time.
The first phrase I want to focus on
is that God begins this work.
He who has begun this good work in you.
So I want to talk first of all to you
in whom God has not yet begun a good work.
And my encouragement to you is very simple.
I believe there's some in our congregation
for whom this is still true.
And maybe there's others within earshot.
If God has not yet begun his good work in you,
ask him to.
See, you and I, we need God to work on our hearts.
Amen?
We need this.
Here's the difference.
We go to a doctor, a heart doctor even,
and he'll say,
you got a heart problem.
Do I have your attention now?
Will you listen?
Will you do what I've said?
And we want to take on for ourselves
all the things we need to do
to fix the heart problem
the doctor told us about.
Try to get your heart rate up
for 20 minutes a day.
Watch your diet.
Get some omega-3 into your system.
And then we go and do those things
because the doctor said,
you got a heart problem.
But that's not what Paul is preaching
to the church, is it?
He says,
he who has begun a good work in you.
In other words,
it's God who is doing this work in your heart.
The reason for this is because
we can't work on our own hearts this way.
We are born without the Holy Spirit.
We are born under the curse of Adam.
Every single person.
Fallen.
Condemned.
Twisted.
Distorted.
Bent toward evil.
That's how we're born
and brought into this world.
The image of God still remains,
but it's defaced.
Like you take a penny
and scrape the face.
God must begin
His good work in you.
Listen to this verse.
Isaiah 64-7.
It was one that we came across
in our study with the men
on Wednesday mornings.
It shakes me in my boots still today.
Isaiah 64-7.
There is no one
who calls on your name,
he's telling God.
There is no one
who stirs himself up
to take hold of you.
You, God,
have hidden your face from us.
You have consumed us
because of our iniquities.
Iniquities.
Listen to how the ESV
puts that last statement.
God,
you have made us
melt
in the hand
of our iniquities.
Well,
we know what sin is.
Sin is when we fall short
of the glory of God.
Iniquity
is when we sin
with a heavy hand
lifted up against God.
It's the most serious
type of sin.
And God has made us
melt
in the hand
of our own iniquities.
And that's why
there's no one
who calls on the name
of God
if we're left to ourselves.
Amen?
God's work begins
only after
your self-righteous
work ends.
God begins a good work
in each one of His people,
but He begins that
only after
your and my
self-righteous work
has come to its end.
We've run out.
We're exhausted.
We're done trying
on our own.
And this is good news.
This is really
the beginning
of the Gospel.
Listen to how Paul
put this in Colossians 2.12.
You must first get buried
with Jesus Christ
in baptism.
You must die
to self-righteous
efforts and works.
Die to yourself
in trying to save yourself.
And when you receive
Him by faith
alone
in Jesus Christ
alone
by His grace
alone
then you are also
raised
with Jesus Christ
through faith
in the powerful
working
of God.
It's the powerful
work of God
that begins
this good work
of regeneration.
How powerful
is the work of God
to begin
in your heart
and in mine?
It's the same power
with which God
raised Jesus Christ
from the dead.
In the Gospels
of Mark and Matthew
we read about
a real estate mogul.
A man
who owned
a lot of property.
And this man
came up to Jesus
and asked this question
in Mark 10.17.
What shall I do
that I
may inherit
eternal life?
And Jesus
exposes him.
You think you need
to do more
and you can do more?
Jesus says
you've kept
all the moral law.
How about your heart?
Have you kept
the moral law
of God
in a loving way
in your heart
as well?
See some have said
the point of this
is to make that man
go back
and try even harder.
And it's just
the opposite.
The point
is that you can't
try hard enough
on your own.
The point of the law
in its first use
is to crush you.
You can never
make yourself right
with God
by your own efforts
by your own works.
This ruler
was unwilling
to give up
trying to save himself.
He wanted to do more
and he wanted to
inherit
eternal life
by his own standing.
And the Lord Jesus
laid him flat.
God's work begins
in your heart
and in mine
only after
your self-righteous
work ends.
So,
for you
in whom God
has not yet begun
his good work,
ask him
to do that.
Ask him
to bring you
to the end
of yourself
and work
powerfully in you
in the way
that only he can.
God's work
will be
good.
The second
word I want
to share with you
and encourage you
with from our
verse is the word
good.
Notice in verse 6,
Paul says,
I am confident
of this very thing
that he who has
begun a good
work in you
will complete it
until the day
of Jesus Christ.
Christ.
Maybe there are
some today
who don't know
or who have
forgotten
even in a subtle
way
that God's work
in his people
in your heart
is a good
work.
It's painful,
it's devastating
at times,
right?
But it is good.
So you who do
not trust
that God's work
is good,
my prayer for you
today is that
you will ask him
to prove
that this is so
in your own life,
that you can add
your own testimony.
My life
has also proven
that God's work
is always good.
You know what was
the sin
of the prodigal son?
He did a lot of sins
with his flesh,
but his sin started
in his heart
before that,
didn't it?
The prodigal son,
he thought that
taking all of his
inheritance up front,
leaving his father's
household,
using all that money
to throw parties,
to have fake friends,
share fake laughs,
and give himself
to prostitutes,
he thought all of that
was more good
than being right
with his dad
and dwelling secure
in his father's
household.
In this parable,
do you see how
this is exactly
what Christ
came to reveal
to people
who are fallen
in our sin
and whose minds
are still twisted,
chasing after
the lust of the flesh?
He revealed
the most good
is being right
with the father.
It doesn't get
any better than that.
And that's how
Jesus Christ
reveals the father
to you and me.
It's the father
who runs to greet you
with open arms,
unashamed.
He doesn't care
how bad you smell.
You're covered
in the slop
of pigsties
and your own vomit.
And he brings you
into his loving arms.
That's how good
the father is.
1 Peter 2.3
encourages the church
to taste
and see
that the Lord
is good.
It's not enough
for me to tell you this
or maybe kids
for your parents
to tell you
the Lord is good.
I've tasted
and I've seen.
You need to taste
and see for yourself
the Lord
is good.
How good
is the Lord?
He's as much good
as light is
compared to darkness.
He's so much more good
like life
is over death.
He's so good.
He's a God
of blessings
when you deserve wrath.
The word good
in Philippians 1.6
it carries with it
the meaning of
that which is
honorable,
excellent,
pleasant,
agreeable,
joyful,
happy.
And maybe the word
that summarizes
all of that
representing God
himself is
good means gracious.
God's work
in you,
inside of you,
in your inner being,
in your soul,
it is a good,
gracious work.
I love how our
confession of faith
summarizes this
on regeneration.
This is the teaching
of scripture summarized,
boiled down.
You and I were dead,
but God
enlightened your mind
savingly
to understand
the things of God.
He took away
your heart of stone
and he gave you
a heart of flesh.
He renewed your will.
He makes you love
what he says is good
by his power.
And he effectually
draws you to
Jesus Christ.
Yet,
so as you come freely,
like the prodigal son
sprinting,
hoping he'll be
accepting me
and welcoming me home.
And Jesus came to say,
of course,
he will.
And this is all
because he has
made you willing
by his grace.
You see how good
and gracious is
in working inside of you
from start to finish.
That's why we sing
with the hymn,
Oh, how great
thy loving kindness,
vaster,
broader than the sea.
Oh, how marvelous
thy goodness
lavished on me.
So you who do not yet
trust that God's work
is good,
I pray that you will
ask him
to prove so
in your own life.
The third phrase
I want to focus on
is not only
on how he began this,
but how he completes this.
Because I don't think
I've said anything
now that's too new
to you all,
but I do think
that I and all of us
have a tendency
in our flesh
and maybe we've sat
under teaching
to the contrary
about how is it
that God completes
this work.
Let me read verse 6
one more time.
I am confident
of this,
this very thing,
that he
who has begun
a good work
in you
will complete it
until the day
of Jesus Christ.
So I want to
encourage you
who want to
complete this work
in yourself,
for yourself,
to ask God
to reform
your thinking.
Don't reform
your thinking
to what you hear me say
or what you read
somewhere else.
let the Spirit
through the Word
of God
reform our thinking
on this.
So you who want
to complete the work
that God started
in you
for yourself,
you need to ask
God to reform
your thinking.
I've thought a lot
this week,
why is it that we
want to add something
to God's salvation?
I think it's because
we really want
to respond
in gratitude,
that's probably
where it starts,
but then it's also
that we fear
that maybe I'm
not truly saved.
Maybe there's
something more
I can do
to help secure
myself.
And it's so subtle,
but then our flesh
wants to teach
ourselves that
we can do this,
we can secure
ourselves
by completing
what God started.
or at least
helping God
complete what
He started.
But verse 6
could not be
any more clear.
He who began
a good work
in you,
He and no one
else is the one
who will complete
it in you.
You're probably
already ahead of me
on why this is
so significant.
It's because
whoever began
the work
gets the glory
for beginning
the work.
And whoever
completes the work
or has a share
in completing
the work,
gets the glory
or at least
a share
of the glory
in completing
it.
So God's glory
is what's at
stake with
this doctrine.
We can put
this question
this way.
How are you
and I
finally saved
if you want
to even put
that qualifier
in front of it?
There's a very
well-known,
well-respected
pastor who
on many other
doctrines is
wonderful,
but I just want
to be cautious
for myself
and for your ears.
This is how
subtle it can be.
Listen to what
this pastor
has written
and see if you
agree with it.
Quote,
no holiness,
no heaven.
Works of faith,
obedience of faith,
fruits of the
spirit that come
by faith
are necessary
for our
final salvation.
So,
we should not
speak of getting
to heaven
by faith alone
in the same way
we are justified
by faith alone.
Do you see
how subtle
this is?
A crack
in the door
and enough
of a distortion
comes in
that it can
have a wrong
effect on
true believers.
That's my
caution.
It can
feed that
part of our
flesh that
wants to
secure ourselves
and inevitably
is siphoning
away some
glory from
God.
Here's how
we can twist
that in our
mind.
We can take
that to
mean that
I must
now muster
up enough
faith,
enough faith,
so that
I can then
do enough
works,
enough works.
How much
is enough?
That I can
obey enough,
that I can
show enough
to finally
be saved.
That doesn't
sound right,
does it?
What I want
to persuade you
with today
is reading
about four
or five
Bible verses
so you
can hear
the word
of Scripture
which I
believe is
very clear
on this
point.
Notice how
that is not
at all
the tone
of Paul.
By the
mercy of
God,
by the
strength
and the
energy
of God,
Paul
outworked
any
believer,
I think,
any saved
sinner,
he outworked.
Listen to
how Paul
puts it.
In the
same way
that God
began a
good work
in you,
God
completes
his
work.
Colossians
1.29,
Paul wrote,
I struggle,
I toil
with all
his energy
that he
powerfully
works in
me.
That's a
very different
tone.
Galatians
3.2,
Paul writes,
let me ask
you this,
did you
receive the
Spirit by
works of
the law
or by
hearing with
faith?
Are you
so foolish
having
begun by
the Spirit,
are you
now being
perfected
by the
flesh?
Philippians
2.13,
it is
God
who works
in you
both to
will
and to
work
for his
good pleasure.
You hear
Paul's tone.
I don't think
it could be
any more
clear.
God
completes
his work
in his
people
by his
power
alone.
2.
Peter 1.3,
his divine
power
has granted
to us
all that
we need
for life
and godliness.
You see,
it's God's
divine power
that has
granted
our final
salvation
through the
knowledge of
him who
called us
to his
own glory
and excellence.
So for you
who want
to complete
this work
that God
began in you
for yourself,
ask God
to reform
your thinking
and he
graciously
will.
The fourth
word in our
verse today
that I want
to encourage
you with
is the word
confident.
Confident.
I am
confident of
this,
that he
who has
begun a good
work in you
will complete
it until
the day
of Jesus
Christ.
Most likely
some of you
if you're
like me,
today you
need to be
strengthened
with confidence.
You need
to be
strengthened
with confidence
and my
prayer is
that you
will ask
God to
help you
trust him,
the source
of your
confidence.
Paul says
I am
confident of
this very
thing.
He's
confident,
he's
certain,
sure,
fully
persuaded
of this
very
thing.
God
will
finish
what
God
started.
That word
confident
was used
mockingly
of Jesus
Christ as
he hung
on the
cross
to pay
for our
sin.
In
Matthew
27
verse
43
they mocked
and they
said let
God
deliver
him.
He
trusted,
that's the
same word,
he had
confidence
in God.
Do you
need to be
strengthened
with such
confidence?
One of my
favorite
Puritans
John
Flavel
he
he fell
so passionately
about this
he ministered
to the
church.
Church
did Christ
finish
his work
for us?
Then there
can be no
doubt
he will
also finish
his work
in us.
Amen?
That's the
source of
our
confidence.
And it's
good that
we desire
that
confidence
that
blessed
assurance
that's
a gift
from the
Holy
Spirit.
We need
that
confidence
in our
own
lives
for
ourselves
for
our
soul.
We
also
are
burdened
and we
should
pray
that
God
will
help
our
loved
ones
to
trust
God
and
gain
such
confidence.
And I
pray that
you will
also at
least
allow
God
to stir
up a
portion
of your
heart
to care
that
he will
complete
the work
for this
congregation.
Paul,
by the
way,
is writing
to a
church,
isn't he?
For the
church at
Philippi,
all the
saints,
with the
elders and
deacons.
I'm
confident
for the
church,
for all
of you,
and under
Christ's
name,
as a
gathered
congregation,
Christ
will finish
what he
started
for you.
John
Gill had
written
this,
and to
me this
was such
a powerful
encouragement
for my
confidence
in this
truth,
that I
can trust
God to
finish
what he
started.
Quote,
where there
is grace,
there will
be glory.
Grace is
what we
need now,
the moment
we first
believed,
when he
first began
this good
work in
us,
and glory
is what
he holds
up to
us for
eternity,
to come
with Jesus
Christ.
Where there
is grace,
there will
be glory.
Is there
grace in
your life
from God?
God,
there will
be glory.
Here's
John Gill's
argument for
proving this.
God carries
out his
good work
in your
life
according
to who
he is.
He is
unchangeable
in his
nature,
in his
purposes,
in his
promises,
and in his
calling.
God is a
rock,
and his
work will
be perfected
by his
power sooner
or later
in his
people.
Because God
is faithful.
He will
never forsake
the work
of his
hands.
He alone
has the
power to
accomplish
what he
intends
in you.
Listen to
what John
Gill said.
It's even
better because
it's not
attached to
you at
all.
It happens
in you,
but it's
for God
himself.
God has
too much
of himself
pledged
to leave
his works
in your
hands.
Did you
catch that?
Let me run
that one by
you one
more time.
God has
too much
of himself
pledged
to leave
his work
in your
hands.
He is
committed
to completing
what he
started in
you.
If this
work is
not finished,
then the
glory of
God the
Father in
your election,
in the
covenant of
grace,
in your
salvation,
in the
mission of
his son,
the glory
of Christ
and redemption
and of
the spirit
and sanctification
would be
entirely
lost.
God has
way too
much
of himself
pledged
to leave
this good
work and
the finishing
of the work
he started
in your
hands or
mine.
Praise
God and
all glory
be to
God.
So he's
confident
of this
very thing.
And the
last phrase
I want to
encourage you
with is
the end
that this
is all
for.
I am
confident
of this
that he
who has
begun a
good work
in you
will
complete
it
until
the day
of Jesus
Christ.
This is
what it
is all
for.
It's
the chief
end of
man
to glorify
and enjoy
God
forever.
The day
of Jesus
Christ
is coming.
church
the Lord
who began
his good
work in
you
he will
complete
it
in his
own
timeline
for each
soul
and for
the church
global
invisible
under the
one true
God
on his
timeline.
He
will
finish
what he
started.
Someone
made a
joke that
there are
two seasons
in Colorado.
there's
winter
and then
there's
construction.
Those are
the two
seasons.
When it's
not snowing
there's
construction
being done.
I'm
familiar
with one
job site
here in
Parker
at which
140
workers
show up
every day.
They are
doing dry
wall,
windows,
putting the
sprinkler
system in,
laying down
the turf,
painting all
the walls.
All those
crews are
going to
keep
working
until the
project is
complete.
How will
we know
that the
project is
complete?
It's when
they're done
working on
it.
What is
it for?
What's
the end
of the
project?
In this
case,
it's a
school.
When you
see the
children
running on
the playground,
sitting in
the classrooms,
learning,
you see the
parents relieved,
smiling,
enjoying a
school in
our town,
you know
that the
project is
complete.
The
project has
a worthy
end.
There will
never be a
shortage of
funding or
labor or
anything that's
needed until
those kids are
in the building
learning,
because that's
why that
project was
begin.
The church
is the
glorious project
of God to
unite the
church to
himself,
Jesus Christ.
And how
will we know
that the work
of God is
done in his
church?
It's when
you,
church,
are enjoying
Jesus Christ
and glorifying
him.
Individually,
this will
happen on a
different timeline
for each soul.
But as a
church,
collectively,
we can trust
one pastor
will die,
the next pastor
will die,
the next pastor
will die,
deacons and
elders will be
raised up and
they'll be
buried.
The Lord
will carry on
his church.
It's the work
of God.
He alone can
build it,
and he will
build his
church.
I'm so
encouraged by
the short
life of a
Scottish
Presbyterian
pastor named
Robert Murray
McShane.
One of the
things he wrote
is this,
only an inch
of time
remains,
and then
eternal
ages roll
on forever.
Only an inch
of time
remains.
When he
wrote that,
he didn't
know that
he would
get typhus
fever,
something you
get from
lice,
bugs like
that.
He preached
a sermon
on a Sunday
within 48
hours.
He was
dead,
and they
buried him
at the
age of
29.
The Lord's
work in
preparing his
soul for
eternity was
complete.
It doesn't
mean he
attained the
same level
of maturity
as Paul,
and we
all fall
short of
the glory
of Jesus
Christ,
but for
that soul,
29 years,
that was
his timeline.
I feel
like on
this doctrine,
Robert Murray
Machine in
the 1800s
put so
clearly and
simply what
all the
other reformers
and the
further
reformation,
the Puritans,
had been
working out
from Scripture
and synthesizing
up to this
point.
So I've
written about
four questions
and answers
as if I
got to
just interview
Robert Murray
Machine at
age 28 or
so you can
hear what
God had been
doing in
his life
before the
Lord took
him to
glory.
One question
I wanted to
ask him is
this,
what has
God shown
you about
yourself in
God's work
of completing
you and
preparing you
for the day
of the Lord
Jesus Christ?
McShane
wrote,
the seed
of every
sin
known to
man
is in
my heart.
Next
question,
what is
your source
of confidence?
Paul had
a confidence
that God
would complete
this work,
what's your
source of
confidence?
McShane
wrote,
what a man
is on his
knees before
God,
that he is
and nothing
more.
You see
what he's
saying?
Every
sin
known to
man,
that seed
is in
my heart.
What I
am on my
knees before
God,
that I
am and
nothing
more,
nothing in
my hands
I bring.
Pastor
Robert,
how do
you pray?
And he
wrote,
Lord,
make me
as holy
as a
pardoned
sinner can
be.
Amen.
Well,
I only got
four questions,
so I
squeezed
three in
together
on this
last one.
Pastor
Robert,
what have
you learned
in these
28 years,
a handful
of years
in the
ministry?
What do
you know
for certain?
And what's
your advice
for Christians
like us
here today?
He wrote,
unfathomable,
unfathomable
oceans
of grace
are in
Christ
for you.
For every
look at
self,
take ten
looks to
Christ.
Dive
and dive
again.
You will
never come
to the
bottom of
these gracious
depths.
the Lord
who began
his good
work in
you,
he will
complete it
on his
own timeline
until the
day of
Jesus
Christ.
Church,
beloved
congregation
of the
Lord Jesus,
God is
preparing
you and
he's preparing
us together
for himself.
one way
or the
other,
you and
I will
be with
the
Lord
very soon
if he's
begun a
work of
grace in
your life.
He will
make sure
that you're
ready.
Your part
is to
simply ask
him to
watch him
prove so
in your
life.
Thank him
for being
so patient
and reforming
your thinking.
Keep
trusting him
and rest
knowing that
you are
his.
He is
preparing
you for
himself on
his timetable
for his
glory because
he alone
is God
and he
will be
glorified in
the life of
his church.
Isn't it
humbling and
a source of
confidence and
strength that
we get to
see God
working in
his people
within the
church?
Just as we
can watch a
master lay
down tile or
build something
out of wood,
that's what we
get to do in
the church with
one another.
We get to
watch our
master do
his work in
his people and
just glory in
what he's
doing.
I am
confident of
this, that
he who has
begun a good
work in you
will complete
it until the
day of Jesus
Christ.
Amen?
Let's pray.
Father, thank
you for your
promise.
Thank you for
your good
work that you
do in your
people for
your glory.
We pray that
we can rest
knowing that
you are the
one who saves
from the
beginning to
the end.
Amen.