God Finishes What He Starts - [Philippians 1:6]

The title for today's message is God finishes what he starts and our text will be from Philippians chapter one.

So if you want to turn there, please feel free to do so. And as you as you are turning,

I want to start with something I just read in the news this afternoon.

Some of you may have heard there was a tragic accident in Italy. There was a there was a cable car that was going up the mountain and it had fallen off and about 13 people were killed in this accident.

And you know, it's heartbreaking when you hear things like this. It was

Italy had just opened up. People are going up to the northern parts of the country to see this beautiful mountains and enjoy this ride.

It's a 20 minute ride. But it goes up close to 5000 feet at the top.

And unexpectedly, this accident, they don't know all the details. And as I was listening, as I was reading this,

I realized that there's something that we can learn from what was happening here.

But before we do that, I thought it'd be instructive for us to pray for the tragedy there and how the

Lord can help. Anytime I hear something that's sad or tragic,

I try to remember, Lord, you know, there are people there that need your help, physically, people who need it to come to know you.

And we always start to pray for those. So let's begin with a prayer and also pray for our time in the word.

Loving Father, we come before you knowing that you are sovereign. We know that you are good. We know that all things that you orchestrate come together for good for those who are called and to those whom you have expressly showcased your salvation.

And Father, in this time of need and suffering, we come before you. Lord, we pray for the families that are grieving the loss of their loved ones.

For those who are injured and in the hospitals, we just pray that you would be gracious and grant them healing and that you would be pleased to save any that do not know you.

And Father, as we open up your word here this evening, I pray, Father, that you would remind us that each moment that we have is indeed a gift from you.

We ought not to presume on the breath that we take, but rather that we ought to be grateful for the opportunities that you have provided for us to learn about you, to showcase your excellencies to this world.

And so, Father, we commit this time into your hand. In Jesus' name, we pray. So as I was reading this,

I was thinking about how this group of people might have started this journey with just this great expectations of going up into the

Alps and looking at all these beautiful places. And then it was not to be. They had a hope of going from the base of the mountain to the top.

But right at the very top, this thing collapsed.

Now when it comes to your salvation, is that possible? You hear of people, big people, people who are much more learned than I and you and I, people who are very in the ministry for much long periods of time, who have made shipwrecks of their faith.

So when you are on the path of salvation, do you have assurance that you can reach the goal?

When we think of salvation, the Bible talks about it in three terms, you know, the past, the present, and the future.

There is an aspect of salvation where God has already done salvation. He has accomplished salvation in your life.

We think of the justification that we have in Jesus Christ. There is nothing we did

God called, He declared as not guilty because of the work of Jesus Christ.

And at that moment, we know that that salvation has been accomplished. It's a past event.

The Bible also talks about salvation as a present event. You are being saved. We are being sanctified.

We are being conformed into the image of Christ. There is a mighty work of salvation that is being accomplished in each of your lives here.

And as we think of salvation, there is this power at work in each of us as God is making us and transforming us into the image of Christ.

And one day we will see the future aspect of salvation where we will be glorified.

We will no longer have the presence of sin and the work is accomplished and we will gaze and glorify and revel our

God forever and ever. But while we are here on this side of eternity, sometimes your cable car going all the way up seems to be hitting high winds, shaking up their blizzards where you can't quite see what's lying ahead and lightning and thunder that seems to scare you whether you can finish this journey that you are on.

Ground zero may seem far down and heaven seems to be too far off.

Can you make it? Can those of your family and loved ones who have professed faith and struggling make it?

And I was thinking of Jesus in this analogy. Jesus didn't need a cable that he needed someone to power to go up and accomplish the work that he came here to do.

He did it, you know, for your mountain climbers like a free climb. He just did it on his own.

He had been empowered. He came here as a man just like you and me and he was tempted in every single way.

But no, no temptation of Satan, no tricks in this world.

No, even not even his own desire to be not separated from the father would break the hold of his goal of fulfilling his father's will in accomplishing salvation for us.

And today you and I as we are walking on this path that God has said before us have a cable that will not snap.

We have the part that Christ has accomplished for us and you and I can be assured that the work that God has begun in us the work of salvation will indeed be accomplished.

So my goal here is is quite simple. I'm going to read Philippians 1 verses 1 through 10 11.

And as I'm reading it, I want you to look for the words Jesus and Christ and that would give you a sense of Paul's fixation with Jesus as it were because we're not going to be talking about some of the work of Jesus in this passage, but we're going to see how

Christ is everywhere as we go through it. And then we will study verse 6 and try to understand what that verse means.

And then we're going to go back to act 16 to get a little bit of a context. You know who when

Paul talks versus in chapter 1, what does he mean? How do his readers understand what was going on?

And then we'll come back and look at verses 1 through a 7 in context and finally apply it.

So let's look at Philippians 1 verses 1 through 11. I'm going to read it for you.

And as I'm reading it, just watch for Jesus and Christ. Paul and Timothy servants of Christ Jesus to all the

Saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi with the overseers and deacons grace to you and peace from God our father and the

Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in every remembrance of you always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now and verse 6 and I am sure of this that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

It is right for me to feel this way about you all because I hold you in my heart for you are all partakers with me of grace both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel for God is my witness how

I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus and it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment so that you may approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.

So let's now look at verse 6. So that's our primary text and we're going to come and go to this verse and we'll begin with this

Paul says in verse 6. I am sure of this that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ Paul doesn't say

I think that and then finish the sentence.

It is possible that and something else but he is sure of this.

He has been persuaded of this. He is certain of this. So this is one of those things versus that you are thinking of for many of you.

It might be a life verse just recognizing what God has done in your life and looking forward to the hope that you already have in him.

And this is one of those guaranteed versus you can take this to the bank and it will always cash.

It will not bounce. This is the assurance that Paul the apostle has and Paul is now writing to the

Philippians and communicating that same assurance that they can have that he has in his

Lord and he's saying I am sure of this. But as you are asking the question, we already had act 16 read.

Thank you, Jonathan. That was an excellent reading even with the throat you just pulled right through and we have a little bit of a background.

We're going to come back and see what happened in Philippi. But when the Philippians heard Paul saying

I am sure of this what kind of a what was being communicated to them with the with the with the authority that Paul had.

So when he says I am sure of this in verse 1 of Philippians 1, he says I am a servant of Christ Jesus.

You know, he could have said I'm an apostle of Christ Jesus like he would say to the Galatians. He could pull his rank if you will.

Why does he not do that? Certainly he is an apostle. He is one who has been sent by Jesus Christ to proclaim the gospel and he is the one who brought the gospel to them.

He is not just that he is also someone who is I don't like to use this term, but I you know, use take it with somewhat graciously.

He's like your secretary of the Holy Spirit. You know, he's writing what God himself is saying.

So when he says I am sure of this and he's inspired by the spirit of God and he's writing what God wants them to hear. You can be pretty sure that what he is saying is authoritative, but his emphasis is on his servanthood because Paul is not here to elevate himself.

He's there in order to exalt Christ Jesus. And so his focus in in throughout this book as well as in the rest of his work will always be to showcase

Jesus Christ. So the Philippians when they hear this coming from Paul the apostle of Jesus Christ would be to hear he's here to serve

Jesus and part of that service is to give them that assurance that Jesus himself would want them to have.

So I am sure of this. What is this that Paul is sure of that? He would who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ the rest of the sentence.

What is this good work? I contend that it is salvation.

You will see interestingly on verse 5 and verse 7 the word gospel used will come back and look at what it means in the context.

But I believe that Paul is talking about the work of salvation both more in the specific sense of being saved from their sin and the assurance of going to heaven, but everything else that it encompasses are all included here.

The good work that God works in you will be brought to fruition at the day of Jesus Christ.

Now, let's look a little more closely at this verse. He who began a good work in you who began this good work.

You know, Paul you've heard act 16. He could have gone so far to say

I began the good work in you and God will finish it in the day of Jesus Christ because I'm not here physically with you.

He was the one who brought the gospel to them, but know that it wasn't Paul who began the good work in them.

It was God himself who began the good work in them. We'll go back to that and see that in a moment when we get to act 16 and he started in you and I think it's helpful to remember this while I'm going through salvation through trials when the when the winds are blowing and the blizzards blinding my eyes.

I often try to remember what I did when I got saved. I distinctly remember what

I did when I got saved. I was walking down the street and I was crying. I didn't want to believe but it just seemed inescapable to me and I trusted and then

I might think at that point, you know, did I do something there that I think

I was doing something good, but maybe it wasn't maybe it was all off to not unbeknownst to me at that time.

It was not me who started that work of salvation by exercising faith or trusting in Jesus or repenting of my sin, but it was

God who had begun that work in me and he is the one who is going to continue that work.

Now, when he says he who began a good work in you in verse one, he says he's writing to the all the

Saints in Philippi the overseers and the deacons. So these are all believers in the church at Philippi and then he calls of the officials the elders and the deacons as well in particular.

He's saying each one of you in this church you have had the work of God begun in you and for each of you he will bring that work to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

So this moving from beginning of the work to the end is assured.

It's okay. If you want to stay if it doesn't I might be a little too loud.

I don't know Andrew. So so when we say he will bring it to completion, what do we know about God that he finishes what he starts?

What are some other things that you can think of where God does exactly that we are thinking about our salvation, but what about other things

I can think of creation Genesis one he begins in in the beginning

God created and then you go to verse 31. Everything was very good what he starts he finishes and then you have all of creation and we have the fall and the and the troubles and it seems like there is no solution for the problems that mankind is facing and then you get to see the propitiation that is there throughout the pages of scriptures and then you know

Revelation 22 how that is going to end and we have a God.

I remember Pastor Mike preaching Hebrews 1 3 how the sun upholds the universe by the word of his power and I didn't know that until that point.

It is not just keeping it up, but it is carrying it to its destination. And if he can take the entire universe from its moment of creation to its culmination,

I think we can agree that he can handle you and me. That's the God that we are talking about.

He is and that's the God that Paul has encountered that he is communicating to the

Philippines. The end is assured. It will be perfect. Now, there's one other thing in this verse that I want to highlight, which is the day of Jesus Christ.

So there are two days that the Bible talks about this morning. We heard about the day of the

Lord. That's the day of judgment that is coming for all unbelievers. So people ought to be scared and afraid and fearful if they haven't trusted in Jesus Christ of that day because Jesus is coming as a righteous judge and his wrath will be poured out on that day, but the day of Christ or the day of Jesus Christ as it is used in the scripture is talking about Christ coming for you for those who trust in him.

This is a day of great rejoicing as Pastor Mike you were saying this morning perhaps tonight that you know, he is coming back and we are looking forward to the return of our king and these are this is the time where you will be looking forward to the rewards that Christ has promised for you at his appearing.

So we've taken a quick look at verse 6 and now let's look back a little bit at Acts 16 to draw some understanding before we look at the rest of Philippians chapter 1.

So if you want you can just put a placeholder here and turn to Acts 16 and as you're turning there you remember to think of Acts you want to remember

Acts 1 8 Jesus told his disciples wait here and you will receive power from on high and then you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

So in Acts 1 through 7 you get to see how in Jerusalem the power of God explodes you get to see a fearful cowardly disciples transformed into unashamed of the gospel of Peter who would just speak to these authorities who had actually nailed his master to the cross and the people were being saved by the thousands and then in chapters 8 to 12 you get to see how the gospel spreads forth not just to the

Jewish people but to the Samaritans and to the Gentiles you remember Cornelius where Peter would go and give the gospel to them and then in 13 to the rest of the chapter 28 you have

Paul's ministry that is given for us and there in chapter 13 to 14 you have the first missionary journey as Paul from Antioch along with Barnabas go out and give the gospel to the

Gentiles in the Roman Empire and then in chapter 15 they come back and they realize that there is this tension about circumcision and there needs to be a clarification that the gospel is by faith alone there is no works that can contribute can be done to add to the work of Christ on the cross and then we are coming into the second missionary journey so that's why

Jonathan began at the end of chapter 15 where the missionary journey starts and then in 16 through 18 you have the second missionary journey and then 18 through 21 is the third missionary journey so let's briefly look at what happens in the second missionary journey when

Paul comes to Philippi so I want to pick up right in well if you if you look up verse 1 you have two names there

Paul and Timothy and in this chapter you probably have Paul, Timothy, Silas and Luke and other people as well

I'll point that out as we go through verses 6 through 10 I'm not going to read it but I'm going to just point you some of those things here and I want you to be thinking of these through the lens of the

Philippians this is about 10 years later so the letter to the Philippians is written in about 60 -61

AD Paul is writing from Rome in prison we will come to that in a moment but this account in Acts 16 is probably a decade old now and so we are looking back in time to what happened at Philippi when you look at verse 6, 7 and 8 and Jonathan prayed concerning this the apostles who are led by the

Spirit inspired by the Spirit and instructed by Christ in terms of the gospel seem to be lost you know they had a plan to go somewhere

Paul probably was going to go to Ephesus because that's like the Boston of the

Northeast and God's like no and then he says okay maybe not this direction

I'm going to go north and God says no and he then goes west and then he's like well

I gotta wait I don't know where I'm going now and it was clear that God had a very explicit purpose to bring

Paul and his crew down to Philippi so now when you think back at Philippians 1, 6 he who began a good work in you you know

God began that work long back but we are just going back a little before they figured out that God was doing that work in them

God was preparing the Philippians like Lydia and others in the

Jewish community who were looking up to God he had other people like the

Philippian jailer who had no clue who God was and he was preparing that work for him by bringing

Paul and the rest of the people at this point in time you know God could have said hey

Paul go to Ephesus spend those three years there and you know go to Corinth and then you can come and you know it might not be this jailer it'll be the next jailer no

God had a very explicit purpose for that particular jailer that particular woman and those people that he wanted to rescue and God would direct his people to bring the gospel to the point to those people at that time and you can think of those accounts in your life how the

Lord brought the gospel to you it was no accident but I remember the guy who came was a an ex -film actor who was not an ordained minister but he brought me the gospel and I got saved it was no accident when he preached that night and then in verse 9 you have this vision a man of Macedonia comes and then in in Paul's vision and that's a very clear direction and then in verse 10 you see immediately we sought to go to Macedonia so there on the if you have your maps you can take a look at it they're right on the coast in Troas and then they take a ship in verse 11 to Samothrace which is an island a one -day journey another one -day journey to Neapolis which is on the other side of the lake of the sea and then 10 miles in is

Philippi which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony and they remain there some days you have to remember what has just happened is the gospel has gone from Asia into Europe this is the first time the gospel is coming into Europe and God had a specific plan to bring the gospel there at this point in time and Philippi is a leading city we'll get to see a little bit more of it later and then in verse 13 and on you get to see

Paul first comes here he is waiting on the Lord for you know how he must so if you remember the first missionary journey they would go to a synagogue they would preach to the

Jews and then they'll get kicked out and then they go preach to the Gentiles here this Philippi is a big leading city but the number of Jews here are very small you need at least 10

Jewish men to start a synagogue and this place doesn't even have a synagogue here and so they on the

Sabbath go to the riverside hoping to see some Jewish people that they can minister to and what they see the number of men are obviously small it is the women there that are gathered together that Paul goes and speaks to and there you see

Lydia Lydia is from Thyatira which is actually in Asia but she is from the account here seems to be like a wealthy lady she was dealing with a business that was supplying colors this purple to royalty and it looks like she had a business here and she had a house that was pretty big as well through which he could be able to minister but the thing

I want to point you out is in verse 14 she's called a worshipper of God a worshipper of God is a term that is used of these

Gentile people who had come to see the Jewish believers and the

God of the Jews and is worshipping them without becoming a proselyte so she hasn't become a

Jew by conversion but she's worshipping with them and then in the end of verse 14 the

Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul and this is exactly what happens to each of us when we come to faith here is this powerful lady who is a worshipper of God seeking to worship him and then in end of verse 13 it says

Paul spoke to them and as he was speaking to them and giving them the gospel she comes to faith in Jesus Christ and so verse 15 she is baptized along with a household and household baptism you know we typically understand these as adult members who came to faith as well it is not that she was the head and everybody else under in the house just was baptized but rather each of them would have come to faith as well and then there is something that happens we'll see this as we come back to Philippians 1 she insists on hosting and caring for this missionary group while they are in Philippi and we will see how when

God opens the heart of the believer to trust in Jesus Christ that heart is transformed in the way in which it relates to the gospel and the way in which it relates to other believers and so that's what happens here in Lydia's place where it seems like her house would be the base from which the gospel is being proclaimed as well as possibly the location of the first house church in Philippi and then we come to verse 16 and you see this remarkable incident slave girl demon possessed proclaiming

Jesus and Paul does not want any credit from this demon possessed girl because this demon could change its mind and say something else and mislead the people into thinking that it's speaking the truth and Paul is annoyed and he cast this demon out by commanding it to come out of her and it does and the reaction to this that you see in verse 19 you can see very clearly it wasn't there was a specific reason why they were upset and it was because they lost their income so this woman by her prophesying with a demonic spirit brought money and when the money goes they get in trouble and so they seize

Paul and Silas brought them before the rulers and they make an accusation that is very interesting they say these men are

Jews and they are disturbing our city they are Jews but they weren't disturbing the city but at this point in time you get to see that there is anti -Semitic sentiment happening in Rome in chapter 18 you'll get to see why

Jews will get expelled out of Rome as well but here is a easy way in which to bring an accusation against people who are already not very favored in the place and then they advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept our practice so they bring a trumped up charge and they now bring these people before the magistrates and very interestingly in verse 22 the crowd was attacking them the magistrates gave the orders to have them beaten with rods this was unfair and unjust and I think it's helpful for us to remember you know we have a

God who is sovereign he has put people in authority and they don't always act according to the in just they don't act with justice toward those whom they are placed in charge of and we will see how

Paul responds to this and how God brings that about for his glory and so these men were beaten thrown in the prison and it is not just the prison it's the inner prison like a dungeon and they were feet were fastened in stocks and the purpose of this feet being in stocks is they are stretched out after being beaten you're bleeding you're hurting badly your muscles are all trying to pull and relax and when you're stretched you cramp and there's no way for you to find relief so that's the kind of extended pain that they would be in in this particular place and if you look at verse 25 the response of Paul and Silas is a testimony to the fact that Paul and Silas were not doing this work just because they thought it was a cool thing to do if you are beaten you are cramping you are in a world of pain you have been unjustly put here in fact in the end of this chapter you're going to see

Paul had his he was pretty capable of defending his rights but at this point in time when he's praying to God he is not complaining to God he's not saying oh you know can

I get some Tylenol you know he is talking here it says praying and singing hymns to God and the prisoners were listening to them what would give prisoners you know guys who probably don't care for the things that are high and holy and exalted to listen to two strangers who look like the kind of group that you don't want to you don't care for you know you would throw stones at them and those are the kind of guys that are that they are listening to in the middle of the night in midnight that's because Paul and Silas are exhibiting something that is just out of this world people don't do that if you are unjustly broken you don't go there and sing and praise to and and praise

God with your songs and so there must be something that is going on in these people's lives and the prisoners are listening to them and I have something to say about the prisoners later but in verse 26 there's a great earthquake here's a place that earthquakes don't come foundations are shaken doors are open and the bonds are unfastened and so here you have escape route for Paul you know we know in Peter and I think it's in Acts 12 has a similar kind of encounter where an angel comes and takes him out and he's like well

I think I'm just having a vision and the angel has to kind of slap him and say you need to get out of here you know this is your get out of jail free pass but in this particular case

Paul doesn't kind of cash in his get out of jail card he could have escaped but he doesn't so and there was a purpose for this so in verse 27 the jailer wakes up sees the prison doors open and assumes the natural thing get out of jail free card use it and get out so if those people escaped his life was forfeit and for honor's sake he wanted to commit suicide but Paul calls out and tells them don't harm yourself you're all here so the jailer comes and then he asks what must

I do to be saved you know he is the one who had authority over Paul for his incarceration but he recognizes that Paul was the one who had true freedom and he's the one who needed rescue from his bondage and then the answer is always simple believe in the

Lord Jesus and you will be saved you and your household and likewise in verse 32 they spoke the word of the

Lord to him and to all who were in his house and once again when you think of household we think of those who could hear the gospel and be saved and then those were the ones who were baptized and remarkable change just like Lydia in verse 34 the moment he comes to faith his heart is transformed toward the

Lord toward the gospel toward the ministry toward the people of God and he washes the wounds and he sets food for the people and for Paul and Silas and takes care of them and then you come to the end of Acts 16 and this is the next day the magistrates recognize there's really no charge to push against these people just let them go and Paul could have said sure thank you

I can go but he doesn't I don't know they had litigation those days you know give me a million dollars and I could be all set for the rest of my life he doesn't do that he's not looking for his personal vindication but he is looking for setting right the record in this town of Philippi which already has a bias against Jewish people and here is this nascent church that is going to be formed and they cannot function under the shadow of this false charge that the missionaries who started

Christianity were causing disturbances and bringing customs that were antithetical to the

Roman culture and so Paul pulls his rights if you will and then he tells these magistrates

I'm a Roman even if I wasn't a Roman you should have had a proper trial before you beat anyone and you have two charges against you those magistrates could have been in deep trouble they recognize their problem they come and they beg and then and ask them to leave but Paul doesn't just kind of run away he goes to Lydia and they strengthen them and and then they leave so this is what the

Philippians are remembering and it's not just that one account through those 10 year through those through that decade the

Philippians and Paul have been in contact and but this is where the whole thing started so this is what you want to be remembering what do the

Philippians understand when Paul says in Philippians 1 6 he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ he can remember what happened in Lydia's life he can remember what happened in the jailers life we wonder if that woman who was freed and rescued from the demon oh did she come to faith there were prisoners who were listening even when they had bonds to Paul when he was singing and praying in the middle of the night there were other ministry that was going on and if you look in Philippians you get to see people like your idea syntyche possibly even

Luke some say because it you know there is a we transition that happens from they if you look at verse 10 in Acts 16 it suddenly shifts to we and that's when

Luke joins this ministry and the way he writes about Philippi he's the author of acts as you know and Luke it seems like he's taking particular pride in this place was he from this place we don't know some authors think he was and then you have all the households that got saved from Lydia and from the prisoners place as well so here are all the people that could be thinking of how

God had opened their eyes and open their hearts and given them the gospel so now let's come back to Philippians once if we can turn back to this our chapter let's see what the rest of this text has to say for us in versus we already saw one and two but I want to read three and four as we continue on this passage there is something very tender in Paul's heart as he's writing

I thank my God in look at the number of times he says all are every all my remembrance of you always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy he just loves this group as you know

Philippians is often called the book of joy all joy overflows as you can see right here in verse 4 but he's also talking about how you can have joy even in the midst of that prison type of situation because God is with us we have a

Christ and a Savior who has rescued us and who is who is our who is at work in us and with us at all times but when he says this

I am making my prayer for you all with joy in verse 5 he says what is this joy kind of because he says it's because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now so we'll take a few moments to look at versus five six and seven and then we'll apply this in our lives verse five there are if you look if you take verse six and the central truth of that text on one side you have verse five and the other side you have verse six and understanding this will give you a richer understanding of how the

Philippians understood this and how you can also look at your own lives as you look more clearly and directly at the

God who has saved you and will accomplish his work in you he says because of your partnership in the gospel verse five the word for partnership is koinonia or fellowship so this is this

Philippians were partners in the gospel with Paul so you saw right at the beginning when

Lydia was saved she didn't say okay you can go save the other people now I know you're saying in mortal six the marketplace is that side you can just continue that no you have to come in because you have given me something that is tremendously valuable and I want the rest of the

Philippians to hear this and you need to stay here so I can provide for your needs and supply whatever is needed

I have the means and I want you to take advantage of it as you give the gospel to many more that need to hear this gospel here and and so there is a but there was a partnership in the gospel that began right at the at the at the first point and then we will see later in Philippines the rest of Philippians that Paul had been supplied for by this church throughout his ministry there were times when this is not a very wealthy church

Lydia was a wealthy woman but the church in Philippi was not but out of their poverty they would supply for the needs even when

Paul was traveling and then so from the first day until now so the first day was like right at the time of Lydia and the jailer and then now you have something else happening so if you look at Philippians 2 you can just scan it 25 to 30 or Philippians 4 let 10 to 18 you get to see that there was a path road

Titus was probably bringing this letter back to the Philippians so Paul Paul is in prison in Rome he is sending this a path for Titus back because a path for Titus was this servant of Christ who was assigned by the

Philippians to go and help Paul while he is in this prison in Rome and so that he can continue to minister the gospel where he is so this is it blows my mind when

I think of it you know if you just say okay today we are going to designate Mark Arnold to go to the missionary in India because you know you can go there and help them with all their needs and supply then we love we love let's say

Sammy Williams they're not in India right now but when they were in India you know you go there and you're going to take care of it we'll supply for your funds and you can take care of that you know that's the kind of love and the partnership in the gospel that this particular church had with with Paul so for the sake of time

I'm going to move on we'll we'll come back to this at the end if we have a little more time I can't quite predict

I'm notorious for keeping people late so I can I'm so glad for the clock so that's verse 5 now let's look at verse 6 again

I'm sure of this that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ so we've already gotten a little bit of a context of what happened in Philippi what the

Philippians have been doing through time because this work of God has been effective in them and through them and particularly in the relationship that Paul had with this with this church as the gospel was not just being proclaimed in Philippi but throughout the known world as the as this fellowship this koinonia made itself manifest but now when you look at 1 1 chapter 1 verse 6 some of the other verses that should be coming to your mind are

Romans 8 28 all things work together for good for those who are called those who love

God and are called according to his purpose you've seen that happen in the Philippians life

I mean Paul is the author of Romans as well and you get to see how no matter how adverse the circumstance

God is the one who is sovereign and he brings that for good he will orchestrate all things you know even those doors where Paul couldn't travel through he couldn't go to Ephesus at that point in time but that was

God's purpose that it would come to Philippi instead you should be thinking of Philippians 2 13 the that's another famous verse that we know it is

God you know work out your own salvation with fear and trembling why because it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure and when we apply this

I want us to be very careful it is God's you're the desires that you think that we have come from God he is the source of good in our lives he's the one who starts that work in me he's the one who enables me to do those things that I have great joy in and he's the one who will finish that as well now there is one thing

I need to point out and Calvin does a pretty good job at this in verse 6 you might ask each of you might say you know we

I know many of you here I many of you don't have a don't have difficulty recognizing that God is sovereign he will take us to the end so most of this is

I'm preaching to the choir and which is a good thing and you might say for yourself

I know my Savior he I know how he saved me

I know how he's been faithful to me through trial after trial when those winds were shaking so bad but I thought

I couldn't hold on he held on to me and I know that given the mighty work of God in my life the assurance of the scripture the assurance of the

Spirit of God in me that I am a child of God I know that he will also carry me through the end the scriptures clearly point to that so each of you can say that for yourself

Paul can say that for himself as well Paul knows that for him that it is true but how does

Paul say this in verse 6 to you which is the Philippians at that point and now more importantly to each of us here so Calvin recounts that Paul doesn't have the lens to look and say you know like Spurgeon says elect in the back of the court or look into somebody's soul and say you know you are a believer because the

Spirit I can see that spirit in you that is doing this work but what you can see is the work of the

Spirit that is manifest in how he has transformed you so when when we get to see the mighty work of God in people's lives where people change you saw

Lydia and the and the prisoner something is just different and we get to see from Philippians to 13

God who is for it is for it is

God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure as you start willing those things that are godly his pleasure things as you start to work those things that are his pleasure things others in this particular case

Paul can look at that and say here is God's work manifest in you and that's what happens here

Maggie had a wonderful story if you can have his commentary you can go read it this is just his own life how

God was faithful to him and this particular verse was manifest in a time when he was just so hopeless no money can go to college can go to seminary and dejected and then coming to a realization that God is the one who is orchestrating everything for him and he should not have been surprised at how

God provided for his for him at that point in time and throughout his ministry let's move on to verse 7 and with that we'll we'll wrap this up it is right for me to feel this way about you all because I hold you in my heart for you are all partakers with me of grace both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel it is right for me to feel this way about you all that's the

ESV I think the King James calls it think the word that is used there for now can mean both

I some places it is translated think but the idea there is Paul has these reasons by which he can see what

God is working in them but also he has a very deep affection for them because this joy that they share this fellowship that they share is truly one in Jesus Christ and it is one in the gospel and it is one of grace and we'll see that in a moment and when he says

I hold you in my heart he is talking about this deep deep love that God brings in us

God pours out his love on each on Paul he pours that same love on in Lydia and in the and the and the rest of the church members there and that love binds us together and that's the same kind of love we experience here as brothers and sisters in Christ and and as Paul sees this work and as we as elders get to see the work of God in your lives there is much joy and as you as brothers and sisters in Christ get to see how

God is working in you there is much joy and that's the fellowship and that's the communion that we have in our

Savior now when he talks about partakers of grace I want you to be very careful here because if you don't listen carefully you might think that Paul would have used a different word here instead of partakers of grace he might have said laborers there are other places where Paul uses the word laborers but here he's talking about something that God is doing you know when you think of verse 6 what it is anchored on you have to remember it is anchored in grace now what is this word partakers in fact that's another version of koinonia soon koinonia and there is a when

I think of partaker I think of eating right you know partaking of the bread that's normally what we hear that term and there is this intimate communion of the grace that both

Paul as well as the Philippians have have received so when he says you are all partakers with me of grace he is talking about the free unmerited favor that Paul has received that the

Philippians have received and they are now reveling in this work of God in their lives so you could either think of this as God's work in these people that is given freely or these people just generating work on their own and this is not their work it is

God's work and then you have the next three points he talks about in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel so it's actually just two things the first one is imprisonment which imprisonment is he talking about you know he he was imprisoned in Philippi when he was there he actually got the washing and the feeding and the care from the

Philippian jailer but that's probably not what he's referring to he's talking about the imprisonment in Rome from where he is writing now because Epaphroditus was with them how did they care for him in his imprisonment

I mentioned you know sending a person over Epaphroditus was not just a you know an errand boy he truly cared for the ministry and he was to the point of death he was willing to even you know give up his life on account of the gospel that's the kind of ministry that happened in the prison that Paul is remembering you were partakers with me of grace and if you have time you can study this more how

God was gracious to Paul and to Epaphroditus to spare Epaphroditus life but this was used in the mighty work of God that was accomplished in the prison in the house prison in Rome and moving on so the defense and confirmation of the gospel so these two terms are are the two stages of a defense in a in a court you know you you if some accusations come you have to give a defense against those accusation and then you have a confirmation you you explain what the truth is and so this is the interesting thing in Paul's imprisonment was his imprisonment was for the gospel it was not just his own personal problem that he is trying to address so this defense not just becomes a defense of Paul's ministry but it's also a defense of the gospel he he addresses any questions that come against against Jesus Christ as the

Messiah so he is the Messiah no he is not the one who causes disturbances and then confirmation which is the positive proclamation of the truth and as you can see throughout the book of Acts and in in Philippians Paul was unashamed of the gospel he would open his mouth and the gospel would come forth and it was also evident in his life especially that that image is just stuck in my mind

Paul in that midnight in prison where his life just showcases the the love that he had for his

Savior that he would sing to him when he was beaten and bruised and unjustly kept in these talks alright so that's verses 1 through 7 let's just summarize it and apply it and wrap it up God finishes what he starts where are the

Philippians now you can be assured Lydia jailers prisoners though so the slave girl anyone else who got saved are with God together with Paul when

Jesus when we think of his work I talked to you about him doing this free climb up the mountain when he was on that cross he accomplished redemption for us when we read

Tetelestai it is finished we know that he accomplished salvation but far too often

I forget that that accomplishment was not just you know like an

Armenian something that just I pick up at some point in time he accomplished it for me and that accomplishment was not just the past thing of my justification but it is something that he is it is guaranteed the work that is happening here today for me and it is not just this particular trial or that particular trial but it is assured on the day of Jesus Christ I will showcase his excellencies as he has promised so God is the one who continues now this is a place where I want us to be careful of when we say

God is the one who is continuing that's why I read Philippians 2 13 there are many times in my life when

I'm just so joyous of the work of ministry that goes on when I'm able to resist those temptations and go forth in strength but right there comes a chief danger that one of the two chief dangers to believers one of them is pride

I so often forget that it is God who is at work in me he is the one who gave me that will

I just keep doing it and I forget that connected to me on that cable there is the power of God that is working through me and the moment

I fail to recognize that you can be assured you know God is not glorified in my in my sin of not ascribing glory to him you want to be careful those times when you you revel in the work of God in your life be sure to give glory give

God the glory do not be proud do not become arrogant and on the other hand we have times where I just don't seem fit for this task this prison seems too dark this dungeon seems too difficult for me to endure

I seem to be cowardly and to give up because I just don't seem to know if I have the power to do things that are beyond me and you want to remember it is the power of Christ in me that enables me to do those things that God has called me to do so if he has called you to a ministry he has and actually

I can talk freely here this is evening service some of you have been offended by other people and then said you know

I don't think I I can handle this kind of difficulties you know this pandemic has been tough for all of us in different ways if we keep looking at my strength or another believer strength and say this is as far as we can go we will fail and fall on our faces but if you look up to the

God who saved us and saved them and if you can trust in him to do those things that God calls us to do you can be assured that God will accomplish that work of reconciliation that work of redemption and that work of bringing about his name exalting

Jesus in the midst of those pain and suffering so if you are here today and you are struggling with the knowledge of your assurance of salvation or the ability to continue look up there is one who has done that work for us already and he will never let you go if you are heartbroken for family members who profess faith but are war wavering don't lose heart pray for them and you know that the

God who saves is also the God who finishes that work of salvation in their lives let us pray a loving father we thank you for your son our

Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we know that he never ever faltered we will falter we know

Lord help us not to take our eyes off of him work of work in us your mighty work help us to be like Paul like these

Philippians trusting in you and reaching out to this world in Jesus name we pray