Turn with me to the book of Philippians
chapter 1. In the first service I preached
out of Psalm 122 verse 1 on the blessing of public worship. And I cited this particular scripture
in that message and I want to look The first eight verses,
I've entitled this message, Christ will finish his work. Christ will finish his work.
Let's read the first eight verses. Philippians chapter 1, Paul and
Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ to all the saints in Christ
Jesus which are at Philippi with the bishops and deacons. Grace
be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord
Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon every remembrance
of you, always, in every prayer of mine for you all making requests
with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first
day until now, being confident of this very thing that he which
hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day
of Jesus Christ, even as it is meet for me to thank this of
you all, because I have you in my heart. And as much as both
in my bonds and in the defense of the confirmation of the gospel,
ye all are partakers of my grace. For God is my record, how greatly
I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. The Lord, turn with me while
I'm going to say this. Hold your place there. Turn to
Acts 16. The Lord had moved upon the apostle
Paul in a vision. to go to Macedonia. He said in Acts 16, verse 6,
it says, Now when they had gone through Phrygia, and the region
of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the
word in Asia, after that they were come to Mysia, they assayed
to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them not. And
they passing by Mysia, came down to Troas. And a vision appeared
to Paul in the night, and there stood a man of Macedonia and
prayed him saying, come over into Macedonia and help us. And after he'd seen the vision,
immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuring,
assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach
the gospel Now Paul, he was led of God's Spirit, he was preaching
the gospel going different places, and he wanted to go here and
he wanted to go there, he desired to go, but the Lord said no. Now we don't question what the
Lord moves on our hearts to do, we're instructed. that we're
led by the Spirit of God and we want to do things that may
in our heart feel the right thing to do, but if the Lord providentially
stops it, then we don't go. But Paul desired to go here,
desired to go there, the Spirit of God wouldn't let him, but
there was a vision. And in this vision there was
a man, Paul saw, and it was a man from Macedonia. And this is what
he said. Would you come over here and
help us? Would you come? Paul said he was convinced. That
was the Lord. The Lord moved on him. You that
believe, you know what I'm talking about. You've had times, it's
during the night, are you awake? I don't know. Are you asleep?
I don't know. Your mind is working and you
feel impressed with things that the Lord may bring on your heart.
And this is what happened. So the Lord, having called Paul
to go to Macedonia, He did. And he went to Philippi. Philippi was the chief city of
Macedonia and it was there that the Lord was pleased to bless
the Gospel. There was a woman there, a cellar
of purple. Her name was Lydia. And she had
gone down to kind of had a little prayer meeting going down with
some women down on the river bank there. And Paul was preaching
to them. And while Lydia heard, she was
a religious woman. She worshipped God, but she only
worshipped the God that she knew in her mind. She was a Jew and
was worshipping the only way she knew how. But something happened. God opened her heart and gave
her heart for Christ. And she asked Paul, she said,
would you come over to my house and preach to us and come stay
with us? And the Lord pleased to save
her family, too. And Paul got thrown in jail. And there was
a Philippian jailer there who sent an earthquake. And the earth
was just, you know. All the chains fell off, and
the jailer came in there and saw what would happen, and he's
just going to fall on his sword. He knew what was going to happen,
you know, if they let those prisoners get away. He was just going to
kill himself and get it over with. Paul said, don't do yourself
any harm. He said, we're all here. And the jailer came to
him and said, what must I do to be saved? Obviously, he had
heard something. Paul and Silas, they were singing
praises. under the Lord, and that Philippian
jailer said, what must I do to be saved? Paul said, this is
what God's people do. They believe. They believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. And God saves them. And now,
there was Lydia, and there was a Philippian jailer, and there
was a couple of people that God called out of darkness. And there
was a church raised up in that place in Philippi. God raised
up a church. And the Lord was pleased to bless
it. And others started coming just like here. And God, you
know, started bringing people, and the Lord saving people, and
that assembly was dearly beloved of the Apostle Paul. And now,
by the grace of God, he who was before a blasphemer, one that
persecuted the church, despised those that loved God, and God
moved on the apostle Paul and converted him on the road to
Damascus. And now here Paul is, after having been there years
ago, and the Lord saved him, moved him, sent him to Macedonia,
and he preached, God raised up a church. Now Paul now is in
a Roman jail, and he's writing this letter back to this church,
to encourage them, admonishing them in the faith. And four things are recorded
concerning Paul's affection for Paul loved him. Back in Philippians
chapter 1, he said here in verse 7, he said in the middle part
of the verse, in as much as, I'm sorry, verse 7, even it's
meat, it's fit for me to think this of you all because I have
you in my heart. in as much as both in my bonds
in the defense of the confirmation of the gospel, you're partakers,
you're believers just like I am." He said, I've got you in my heart.
I love you. He loved that assembly. So four
things concerning Paul's letter in these first eight verses that
he was writing concerning his love that he had for the believers
there in in Philippi. Here's the first one, verses
1 and 2. Here was the reason, here's the
foundation of His love. Verse 1 and verse 2, Paul and
Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ to all the saints of in
Christ Jesus which are at Philippi with the bishops and deacons.
Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord
Jesus Christ. Here was the foundation of His
love. They were saints. They were believers. God had set them apart. Set them
apart originally in electing grace. These were God's people. They were chosen. In the Lord
Jesus Christ, before the foundation of the world, Paul was convinced
the Lord loved him. And as the Lord loved him, Paul
said, I have a heart for you. I love you that the Lord loves.
And that being set apart, by the Holy Spirit to be without
blame before the Father in love was the foundation. Here was
the foundation, here was the ground of Paul's love for them,
your vessels of mercy. Like the Lord's been to me and
He's called me out of darkness and you out of darkness. And
He said you were predestinated under the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself. according to the good pleasure
of God's will. He said, you're my brethren. Here's the foundation
for all of us. There's not a believer in this
room this morning that can't say this. When you say, what's
the foundation of your love for these other believers? God loves
them. The Lord's given me a heart for
them. He's given them a heart for me.
And we've got affection for one another. You're set apart. The
Lord's done something in common for all of us. We're saints. Saints. That's what God calls
them. Not because of their own worthiness. We know that. Not
because of anything we've done concerning our obedience to the
law, but totally according to the grace and compassion of Almighty
God, that work of God in creating a new creature in Christ Jesus,
imputing His righteousness. I look at some, but I'm convinced
that God's done something far and in. I'll deal with that. I don't want to get ahead of
myself. But what He is, I'm looking at some people that are just
like me, just sinners. Saved by the grace of God, but
according to the Word of God, those that believe, robed in
the righteousness of Christ, set apart by God, everlastingly
loved of God, that the Lord shed His blood for you as He did for
me. How can I not love you? Here's the foundation of our
love. Paul said, we're servants to
all the saints. So set apart, out of every nation,
kindred, tribe, and tongue, God set apart some people. And I'm
looking at some of them, and I'm thinking, what a miracle
of God's grace. Paul says, grace unto you. Grace
unto you, because God's been gracious to you. God chose you. And therefore, peace. Peace with
God, which is the effect of God's grace, which is that that element
of, that sign, that part of peace in the heart before God. And
secondly, who is the one that he thanked for it? Had they done
anything? Oh, he said, no, he said, verse
3, he said, I thank my God. I thank God. I thank God upon every remembrance,
every mention, of you. Always in every prayer of mine
for you all, making request with joy for your fellowship in the
gospel from the first day until now. I can tell you this. I said this in first service. I
can't help but say it right now. I pointed at David. David was
here in the first service. But I'm telling you, I look at
all these people sitting out here and pray for you daily. Thankful. Thankful. Thankful
that God calls me to cross your path. Praying God bless the gospel
to you. Pray God teach you, please teach
me. Pray it. Paul said, I thank my
God upon every remembrance of you. Look at Romans 1-9. Hold
your place in Philippians. Turn over to Romans 1 verse 9. He said, For God is my witness,
whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without
ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers. making request, if by any means
now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to
come to you. Paul said, I'm telling you, God's
my witness here. He said, I pray for you. And
Paul says in verse 3, he said, I thank my God upon every remembrance
of you, every mention of you, thankful, thankful for you. 1
Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians. Chapter 1, verse
2. Look at that with me. 1 Thessalonians
1, 2. We give thanks. 1 Thessalonians
1, 2. We give thanks to God always
for you all. Making mention of you in our
prayers. You ever notice how many times the Spirit of God
moved on Paul to tell the people. He was writing, tell the saints,
I'm praying for you. Every time you cross my mind,
I pray for you. I thank God for you. I thank
the Lord. He wrote that 2 Thessalonians
2.13. I love this passage. We're bound
to give thanks all way to God for you, beloved of the Lord.
Because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Paul
said he, the Lord, the Lord, it was the Lord that made us
brethren. What other unifying bond do we
have? What have we got? I mean, we're
from different places, different families, different, you know.
What is it that has unified all of us? It's our love for Christ. God Almighty would move upon
us and give us a heart. Paul said, I thank God that we
have fellowship with one another in Him. So I thank my God always
in every prayer of mine for you all, making requests with joy.
For what? For your fellowship. That's what
he said. For your fellowship. For your fellowship. Here we're
bound together. We're family. We're family. The family of God. Heirs of God
join heirs with Christ for your fellowship in the gospel from
the first day until now. About a year and a half before
I came here. I told you this before, that's okay. You get
a certain age, you have a right to start repeating stuff. You
know, you earn that right. I've got it. I've earned it.
You're old enough to do it. But I told you this. A year and
a half before I got here, there was Scott sitting over here.
And he said, why don't you come here? Why don't you come here
as pastor? And he said, you stand up and
preach, and I'll sit and listen. I said, Brother Scott, I love
you so much. No. No. I said, I can't do that. I said, there is no way in the
world that I'd ever stand up and let you sit there. I just
got too much love and respect for you. No, I can't do that.
But you know what? A year and a half later, I was
here. And Paul said, in verse 4, 5, Philippians 1, always in
every prayer of mine for you all making requests with joy
for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day that I knew
this is where I'm supposed to be. First day that I knew this
is where I'm supposed to be until right now. From the time that
Almighty God put it on my heart to be here and I got here. This
is where I thank God that he has put us together. And then
thirdly, Paul said in verse 6, here was some confidence that
he had in the love that God had given him for this church. Not
only at Philippi, but all God's people. Here was some confidence
he had. Being confident of this very
thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform
it. He's going to finish it until
the day of Jesus Christ. The love that the Apostle Paul
had for the saints at Philippi came with some assurance. And
every believer has got this assurance, this confidence concerning all
of God's people. There's some confidence that
they got. What is the confidence? Here Paul said, here's what it
is. that the Lord, which hath begun a good work in his people, God's going to finish that. He's
going to perform it until the Lord calls him home, Neil, or
he comes back to get him. Paul's got some confidence in
that, yeah, and we do too. The Lord said, I give unto them
eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any
man pluck them out of my hand. Paul said, I've got some confidence
that the Lord hath begun a good work. Now, you know, God only
performs a good work. Now, the Lord has saved us unto
good works, but I will tell you this, None of them ever started
with us. The fruit of God's Spirit having
been given to us and manifested, but that came from God. But it
was the Lord that regenerated His people. That's a good work.
Which one of us has ever done that? No. Salvation is of the Lord. Paul
said, I'm confident of this very thing. He that which hath begun
a good work. God alone. None good but God. And only God Almighty can of
Himself do a good work. So it was the Lord that regenerated. Philippians 2.13 says, for it
is God that worketh in you both to will and do of His good pleasure.
So we look around and we behold each other as being saints. Who
made them that way? The Lord did. I thank God, Paul
says. And we know that He which hath
begun a good work in you. Now you know, when I first read
that, He which hath begun, This thought kind of went past me.
The Lord's begun a good work in raising up this assembly.
And that's right. The Lord, that's a good word. God put an assembly
here back in the mid-50s and raised up a church, Katie Baptist
Church. Good work. how we thank the Lord. But that's
not what Paul is talking about. Paul, you know, if that raising
up of this body was what he was talking about, then this scripture
wouldn't fit. He said, being confident of this
very thing, he which hath begun a good work in you will perform
it until the day, until the Lord comes back. This church may not
be here until the Lord comes back. His people will be, but
this particular assembly May not be. And historically, it
won't be. Historically, it won't be. Mark,
you and I have talked about this. Neil, we talked about this a
lot. You all remember what Brother Henry told somebody one time.
He said, one of these days, he said, give enough time, but for
the grace of God. He said, you're going to drive
by this building right here and say, you know what? I remember
when the gospel used to be preached there. I remember when God raised up
a pastor and sent some folks here and they came and wanted
to. Hadn't met there in years. I can take you to places right
now where that used to be. I mean, there's a church at Philippi,
a church at Corinth, a church at Ephesus, Metropolitan Tabernacle. They're not there anymore. A
building may be, but The Lord moved the candlestick. So He's
not talking about the good work of raising up the general assembly. No, He's talking about something
done in God's people. He's being confident. You know,
the Lord has done so much for us. So much for us. Think what He's done for us. The Lord chose us. I mentioned
that a while ago. Chose us in Christ before the
foundation of the world. He did something for us. Christ
came into this world to save us from our sins. That's what
He did for us. He was made sin. He was made
a curse to deliver us from the curse of life. He was made sin. He was made a curse. He did something
for us. He shed His own blood, died and
buried for us to deliver us from the penalty of sin, rose for
our justification, did something for us, ascended into glory for
us. He ever liveth to make intercession
for us, for us, for us. He's doing something for us.
But not only has He done something for us, He's done something in
Every one of His people. He's been pleased to do something.
Turn to Ephesians 2. Ephesians chapter 2. Let me show
you something He's done in us. God does something for us. Indescribable
glory. But He does something in us too.
Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8. For by grace are you saved through
faith. And that not of yourselves, it
is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Whenever the Lord was talking
to a Pharisee named Nicodemus, You know what the Lord told him?
Nicodemus came and he said, good master, we know that I come from
God. No man can do the works that you do unless he be from
God. You know what the Lord told him? He said, Nicodemus, you
must be born again. You must be born again. There
must be a work of God's grace and power in you. Or you'll never see the kingdom
of God. You'll never perceive the Kingdom of God. God's got
to do something in His people. He's done so much for us. We never know what He's done
for us. Oh, but what He's done in us.
Listen, we've read this before. Ezekiel 36.26. He said, A new
heart will I give you. God's people have got a new A new spirit, new will, will
I put in you. I'm going to take away that stony
heart out of your flesh. And I'll give you a heart of
flesh. We're born with an old nature. We said a heart, a nature.
I'm going to give you a new nature. Every one of us was born with
a heart, a nature. was enmity against God. We didn't
care for the things of God. Those of you, I always mention
this concerning so many of you, I didn't. It was raised under
the sound of the gospel. Mitch, you heard your daddy preach
when you realized you were hearing. But you didn't care about anything
that he was saying until God gave you a new heart, new nature. I was raised under a false doctrine
that really told me that I was in control. That God was wanting
to do something for me if I'd let Him, if I'd allow Him the
privilege to do something for me. If I would allow Him, if
He'd allow me to pull His chestnuts out of the fire and exercise
my free will, He wants to if I'll just let Him. But you know
when God gave me a new heart, you know I didn't think that
anymore? Why? The Lord did something in me. Put a new nature in me, a new
spirit, a new love, a new desire for the things of God. The Lord's
done all for His people and He does all in His people. And Paul said, I am confident,
I'm confident. Of this one thing, I'm confident. That He which hath begun a good
work, and that good work is started, it's begun. God eternally purposed
to do it. Now God's purpose never began. He's always purposed to save
His people from their sins and call them to Himself and reveal
Himself to them. That never began. But that work
in them actually begins in regeneration, in conversion. He that hath begun
a good work in you will perform it. Perform it. He's doing something. He's doing
something. He's going to finish this work.
Now, let me tell you something. I had somebody mention this to
me. progressive sanctification. Let me tell you what I don't
believe. I don't believe in progressive sanctification. What does that
mean? That means I don't believe that
I'm getting more holy. We are as holy as we're ever
going to be in Christ. Being found in Him, we're as
holy as God Almighty has ever made us to be in the Lord Jesus
Christ. But now there is a growing in
grace. There is something that is being
finished and performed. Paul was confident that what
God had begun, that work of grace in his people, the sustaining
of them in the midst of trials and tribulations in this world,
God Almighty is subduing their will and directing and leading
them and convicting them and encouraging them by His Word.
They are growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. But becoming more holy? Where did we get our holiness? the imputed righteousness of
Christ. That is our holiness before God. And it don't progress. Ye are
complete in Him. Oh, but there's a work. There's
still an old man that's still in us. And in the midst of these
wars and doubts and fightings within and without and these
fiery darts of Satan, Almighty God is keeping us in the faith,
holding us in the hand of His power, making good on His promise
to never leave and never forsake us. Who's got perfect faith here?
Nobody. Nobody. Who's got perfect, perfect
understanding? Nobody. Nobody. But I tell you
what, by the grace of God, you know more now than you knew before.
By the grace of God, God's taught us something. And He's teaching
us and showing us of ourselves. Sustaining us along the way.
Paul says, I'm telling you, He that has begun a good work, He's
going to perform it. He's going to finish it. Until
the day of Jesus Christ. Two precious brethren in this
assembly and one and another one that just in the last 30
days is dying. I was thinking the other day,
I'm trying to think how many funerals I've preached since
I've been here of believers. How many God was pleased to take.
And you know when the Lord took them? When He was pleased to
finish the work that He had begun. Immediately. When they left this
world, what Brother Don Fortner, he told his song director, he
wrote something down. He said, I want you to read this
to the folks. He told them how thankful he was. He had been
there for 40 years preaching to them. God made him their pastor. And listen, let me tell you something. I talked to Don. I talked to
Don. Carl and Ida Lou. I told them,
do you know they had the same doubts as me and you have? They struggled with the same
struggles. I'd call up, at times I'd call up Don and ask him something.
One time I called and asked him something out of Jonah. Don Fortner. You know what he told me? He
said, Marvin, I just don't know the answer to that question. I thought
Don knew everything. But you know he didn't. But you
know what? Whenever the Lord was pleased,
to, in him, perform and finish the work that God had done, immediately. Don, Carl, Ivalou, others. Immediately, they saw no more
by faith. They saw by perfect sight. And
Mark, they knew him as they are known. They saw him as he is. And they were like him. They
were like him. Paul said, I'm confident. I'm
confident of this one thing. He which hath begun a good work
in you, he's going to finish it. He's going to finish what
he has started. The Lord is going to perfect
it. Listen to Psalm 138. The Lord will perfect that which
concerneth me. David said, Thy mercy, O Lord,
endureth forever. Forsake not the works of thine
hands. He's going to perform it until
the day of Jesus Christ. I can say it, until the Lord
calls us home or He comes back a second time to get us. Verse
7, even as it is me. This is fit, Paul said, for me
to think this of you all. This is right. Because I have
you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my bonds and in the defense
and confirmation of the gospel, for takers of my grace. It's
me, it's proper, it's right. Paul said, for me to think this
of you all because God put you in my heart, put you on my heart. And he said, I know that he put
me on your heart. I know he did. He said, it's
proper. in witnessing the grace of God
in His people. He witnessed it. Paul said, I
witnessed it while I'm shut up in prison. He said, I witness
it when I'm out preaching the gospel. He said, I know this.
You're partakers of the grace of God with me. And then lastly,
here was the pledge of Paul's love. Here's the witness of Paul's
love. You know, talk is cheap. But listen to this, verse 8.
God is my record. How greatly I long after you
all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul told the people
that he appealed to the Lord himself. He said, the Lord knows
my heart. That's what he said. God knows. God sees. God hears. The eyes
of the Lord behold. And he said, I'm telling you
that God is my witness concerning my love for you all. I said, anybody can say something,
but not mean it from the heart. But Paul says, I'm telling you,
I long after you in the bowels, in the heart, in the affection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord has done something for
me. He's put a love in my heart for you. And he said, I believe
you for me. And he said, I can assure you,
and I appeal to no greater witness than the searcher himself of
hearts to teach you that my love and affection for you has been
born according to the mercy, grace, and compassion of Almighty
God from the Lord to me. That's where it came from. God's
my witness. That's where it came from. Believers
love one another, don't they? By this, you'll all men know.
You're my disciples, you have love one for another. Paul said,
I'm confident God's going to perfect this. And oh, how thankful
we are that we all admit we're not what we will be. We're not
what we want to be. One writer said, I'm thankful
that I'm not what I once was. And the Lord's teaching me. And He's teaching you that know
Him. He's teaching us. He's perfecting something. He's
burning out that dross. Oh, how much we got. How many
grave clothes we've got. He's bringing us to Himself. And one day, one day, very soon,
very soon, it's going to be finished. And in that day, we'll behold
Him. Perfect vision. That's what Job
said with these eyes. See these eyes right here? He
said with these eyes, I'm gonna see God. I pray God bless this
to our hearts. Again, I'm so thankful that we've
had this time to be together. I look so forward to being able
to do it again by the grace of God. Pray the Lord bless this
for his glory and our good.