If you would please turn in your
Bibles to Philippians 1. Philippians chapter 1, a subject
I've been thinking about for a while, and that is on the subject
of confidence without presumption. Confidence without presumption. Verse 6 says, 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." And
when it got done, somebody said, well, you preached without your
glasses this morning. So, that does make a difference. It does make a difference. In
reading this text this morning to you, I read it because it
talks about a subject that I believe is extremely important to the
people of God. And especially so as we begin
to get a few years behind us and as we begin to face eternity. There are some things here that
I really believe that we need to look at. And the question
comes to me as I read this verse, what is Paul talking about? What is Paul's doctrine. Now we see in verse 5 where he
writes to the church of Philippi and says, for your fellowship
in the gospel from the first day until now. This was the verse
preceding what he said in verse 6, 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. I've read some Bible expositors
who thought that what Paul was talking about here in verse 6
was that he felt that the Lord would finish the work of the
grace of giving in the lives of these people. forward to share
with Paul in the gospel ministry. So somebody takes this fifth
verse, some people will, to say, well, he's talking about this
fellowship in the gospel, their giving and sharing with Paul
in the ministry, and that God is going to, Paul is confident
that God is going to, as he's begun this good work in them,
will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. But I do believe
with all my heart, as I look at Paul's doctrine both here
and in other places, that he's talking about something far greater
than the grace of giving. Now, giving is a grace. And the
people of God do have that shed upon them as they pilgrimage
and travel through this world. God gives them grace to share.
And God's people are gracious people. But this verse of Scripture
is talking about something far greater. And as we look at a
couple of passages of Scripture, I believe we'll be able to see
clearly what Paul's doctrine is before we get into giving
an exposition here of this verse and talking about it at length.
First of all, turn back in your Bibles, if you have one, to the
book of 1 Corinthians chapter 1. And just listen to the language
of the Apostle here. Now these passages, these two
that I'm going to read, are passages that maybe you're familiar with.
I hope that you are, because you need to stay in the Scriptures
and you need to memorize the Word of God and become familiar
with the Scripture in order that you'll be able to withstand all
of the fire darts of the wicked in this world. And you know,
about every time we read a verse in the Bible, after all the years
that we've been trying to read the Scriptures and trying to
preach the Word of God, Satan will come and say, well, now
wait a minute. Now you've used that verse of
Scripture before. Or this passage, the people know
this passage already. And so therefore, maybe you shouldn't
use this. Well, it's kind of like I heard
old Brother Barnard say one time on a tape, uh... he was talking
about this and he said the devil will tell you not to use scripture
over again but he said uh... you must use it over again it's
in the word of god and you need to establish the people in the
truth and you need to use the word of god to do that and he
said if you have to just spit tobacco juice in the devil's
eye and tell him to go on back to hell where he belongs and
you're going to use the scripture that the lord has led you to
And so here in the first chapter of 1 Corinthians, I read where
that the church in verse 7 is waiting for the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also confirm you unto the end
that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful by whom you were
called unto the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now this verse of Scripture here,
very plain, and Paul is not backward to inform these people here that
the Lord Jesus Christ who is coming will confirm them, that
they will be made steadfast, and they'll be preserved from
falling, and they'll be presented blameless in that day when they
stand before Him. have that in their hearts to
do that. To be faithful to God and to
be steadfast in the ways of the Lord. To remain in the way of
Christ to the honor and the glory and the praise of His name. And
that you may be blameless He said that you may be blameless
in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is not chargeable
with any apostasy or sin. Blameless. Not to be arranged
before God. Having no sin to face in eternity. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ has
so dealt with our sin that we are blameless. Faithful. And beloved, it all
depends on that, doesn't it? It depends on the fact that our
God is faithful unto the end. We'll have a little more to say
about that in a moment. But that's one of the passages.
You see Paul's doctrine plainly set forth in that passage. And
then if you turn over with me to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5,
I want to read here verse 23 and 24. I love these verses and
I've used them before, like I said earlier, but I'll use them again
this morning to set forth what Paul's doctrine really is. He says, and the very God of
peace, in verse 23, sanctify you wholly. And we've told you
before that whatever sanctification is, it's of God. Of God from
the beginning to the end. The very God of peace sanctify
you wholly, and I pray God, your whole spirit and soul and body
be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that calleth you,
who also will do it. Faithful is He that called you
into the fellowship of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and He's
going to do it. He's going to do it. And so that
gives us a little insight into what Paul is talking about here
in Philippians 1 and verse 6. Now beloved, I want to say that
Paul was not teaching here once saved, always saved, for church
members. He's not preaching here that
you cannot fall from grace. That's not what he's preaching
at all in this text of Scripture. What he's preaching here in this
text and setting forth to our hearts and minds is, he's preaching
the perseverance and the preservation of the sheep of Christ. those
for whom Christ died. Now there's a difference in that.
There are people who believe that if you just pray a little
prayer, that you're as sure for heaven as if you were already
there. I've heard preachers say that over and over to people
again and again. Say that. God will do whatever
you ask Him to do. You ask Him to come into your
heart, He'll do it, and it's all over with. You're sure for
heaven. Well, beloved, I met a whole lot of those people that
had to get converted later on that had made this little speech
and said this little prayer and shook the preacher's hand. But
I'm saying that those for whom Christ died, and we read in the
Word of God in John 10 that Jesus said, I'll give unto my sheep
eternal life, I give it to them, they shall never perish, neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hand, my Father which gave
them me, is greater than all, and no man shall pluck them out
of his hand." And then in John 10, 11 said that the good shepherd
layeth down his life for the sheep, gives his life for the
sheep. And so the sheep of Christ is
what is in focus here. And we're to think about God
being faithful to His sheep, His people, those who are those
chosen before old eternity. Now let's look at this verse
of Scripture, Philippians 1. The preacher's task is no easy
task. When you look at the admonition,
the exhortations, the commission of the Word of God, telling us
to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature,
and make disciples of men, we recognize that it's no easy task. Somebody said, what do you mean? Why is it so hard for a man to
go and preach? Well, it's difficult, number
one, In their natural state, they
don't want anything to do with it. They don't want to hear it.
The preacher mainly is preaching to people that don't really understand
his message and don't believe his message. And they don't want
to receive his message. Man in his natural state is not
interested. We read in 1 Corinthians 1 and
verse 18 for the preaching of the cross, is to them that perish
foolishness, but unto us which are saved it is the power of
God." It's foolishness unto those who are perishing. It's a hard
task to preach to people. Like Jeremiah of old, the Lord
said, Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you. And before
you came forth, I had ordained you to be a prophet unto the
nations. He said, you will go to all that I shall send thee,
and whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt speak. You'll have
a ministry of rooting up and destroying and tearing down,
and the people is not going to believe what you hear. All through
the Old Testament, you see where the Lord sent out His prophets,
and men didn't want to hear what they had to say. And it's true
under the Gospel that men and women do not want to hear. And
in 1 Corinthians 2 and 14 it says, But the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto them, neither can they know them, because it takes somebody
who has the Spirit of God in them to understand and appreciate
the things of God. And so the preacher's task is
difficult for that reason that people do not want to hear what
he's got to say. And then it's difficult from
this standpoint. Because the preacher is to get
up, and he's to exhort men to believe on Christ. He's to exhort
men and women, boys and girls, to seek the Lord, to call on
the Lord, to repent of sin. And they will not repent. They will not believe. They're
exhorted, the preacher's faithful in exhorting them, believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
But we must also, at the same time, when we exhort men and
women to call on the Lord, to seek the Lord, to believe the
gospel, to repent, we must, just in the same sentence if you please,
shut those people up to the fact that they will not seek the Lord
till the Lord seeks them, will not call on the Lord till the
Lord calls on them, will not repent till they're given the
gift and the space to repent by a sovereign God, will not
believe until they're given the gift of faith. Now that's what
makes it difficult. Out of one side of your mouth
you're telling people to believe the gospel. You're telling them
to repent. You're telling them to seek Christ.
And now the other side of your mouth is saying, you can't come.
I tell you to come. The scripture says, come unto
me all you that labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest.
But then we read John 6, 40, 40, it says you can't come until
the Father draws you. And so the preacher's task is
difficult from that standpoint. Think about it a little bit when
the preacher gets up to preach. Now then, another thing is, too,
the third thing, we must exhort believers, those who have made
a profession of faith, to rest in the Lord, to believe the promises
of the Word of God, to persevere in the faith of the Gospel, to
keep themselves in the love of God, to mortify the deeds of
the body that they might live. But at the same time, were to
exhort those people, and this is difficult and a thin line,
but to have no confidence in any of their success. To have
no confidence in the flesh and in the progress that they've
made. You say, well, you tell us to believe, you tell us to
trust, you tell us to rest in the Lord, and then you tell us
not to have any confidence in our efforts Well, beloved, I
want to say this to you, and I want to be kind, but at the
same time tell you the truth. The Apostle Paul in Philippians
3 verse 3 said we are the true circumcision which worship God
in the Spirit and have no confidence in the flesh. Rejoice in Christ
Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. No confidence in
the flesh. Now we know that there are many
who are confident because they look within and they see a little
progress and their confidence is based on the fact of what
they are and the successes that they've enjoyed. And their confidence
is based on that. And if you talk to them, that's
the first thing they talk about, is the progress that they've
made, and how holy they've become, and how useful they are in the
Lord's vineyard. They're forward to set forth
the progress that they've made. Well, beloved, I'm afraid for
those people. I'm very afraid for those people
because I think the Word of God is against that, and I think
it's clear. First of all, let me cite you
a passage over in Luke chapter 17. Luke chapter 17. If you have your Bibles, turn
there and look at this passage. Luke 17, and I want to begin
down here with verse 7. I just want you to listen to
these words. But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding
cattle, will say unto him, by and by, when he is come from
the field, go and sit down and eat, or go sit down to meet?
And will not rather say unto him, make ready wherewith I may
sup, and gird thyself and serve me till I have eaten and drunken,
and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Does he think that
servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think
not. Now our Lord here is setting
forth this truth, beloved, that God is to be served by his servants,
but when they serve the Lord as they ought and perform their
duty, that they are not to be looking for praise and they're
not to be looking to receive a reward for what they do. Doth he thank that servant? Does the man of the house thank
that servant when he's done his duty? When he's done what he
was commanded to do? Well, look at verse 10. So likewise
ye, When you shall have done all those things which are commanded
you, mortify the deeds of the body that you shall live, seek
the Lord, call unto God, walk with God, fellowship with God.
When you do all those things which you are commanded to do,
you say, we are unprofitable servants. We have done that which
was our duty to do. Now you see, beloved, there is
no room then for an individual to look at himself and say, I've
been serving the Lord. Well, hallelujah, but don't think
you've got anything coming because of it. Because you cannot trust
in that. You must trust only in the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Depend wholly upon Christ and
Him alone. Oh, listen to me. I'm really
convinced that there's a lot of people in trouble. I want
you to look over in Galatians chapter 5. Let me show you why
I say this. It's so important that we see
this, that our rejoicing is to be in Christ Jesus and we're
to have no confidence in the flesh, no confidence in our progress. We're not to be confident based
upon our success. We're to be confident based upon
that work which the Lord Jesus Christ has begun and will perfect. But in Galatians chapter 5, there's
a couple of verses here I want to share with you. In verse 1,
Paul writing to believers in the church at Lareda, Stand fast
therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. Be not
entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul,
say unto you that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
I want you to get this last part of this verse of Scripture, Christ
shall profit you nothing. Now what's he saying here? Well,
he's saying that if you make a religion out of your do's and
don'ts, if you make a religion out of what you think is the
most becoming thing of your life and in your life, You make a
religion out of anything but Jesus Christ, and Christ shall
profit you nothing. You get nothing from Christ if
your religion is something other than Christ. Now this is so serious. Look at verse 3. For I testify
again to every man that is circumcised, or that has made a religion out
of his do's and don'ts, that he is a debtor to do all his
do's and to see to it that he doesn't
do anything perfectly. Because if he doesn't,
he'll get nothing from Jesus Christ. Look at verse 4. Christ
is become of no effect unto you. Whosoever of you are justified
by the law, or justified by your works, justified by what you've
accomplished, what you think the Lord is approving of in your
life, whatsoever, he said, you're falling from grace. Now then
you see a man who's fallen from grace is not a man who's committed
some sin, some horrible and terrible sin, and therefore he's fallen
out of grace and is lost. A man who's fallen from grace
is a man who's looked away from Jesus Christ and looked to himself,
and looked at what he's done and what he's doing. That's the
man who's fallen from grace. Christ has become of no effect. Unto you wouldn't that be a horrible
thing to stand before God and it be said that here's my son
and look at all he did and it's of no effect to you because you
had your eyes on yourself or you had your eyes on what you
could accomplish and do and So my friend this becomes a very
serious thing and the preachers got to tell the people he's got
to tell them have no confidence in the flesh and He's got to
tell them, don't be looking for a reward. Keep your eyes on the
Lord Jesus and on His finished work. Keep your eyes on Him and
on Him alone. Oh, how important this is. Well, let me say in the next
place, and let's move on here, that a child of God is a miracle
of grace. His whole journey from the beginning
to the end in this world. A child of God is a miracle of
grace in this whole journey from the
cradle to the grave or from the time that he comes into spiritual
life until the time his life is over. His spiritual birth,
just look at that. Consider it with me a minute.
Somebody well said that the deadness of the womb of our nature is
as dead as Sarah's womb when she was ninety years old. Now
you think about that. Now I'm trying to paint a picture
here of what it is, the vessel, that God has begun a good work
in. I want you to see that God has
begun a good work, but the kind of vessel in which he's done
it and what a miracle it is that it's been done, that it was ever
started. Because the womb of our nature
is dead. And there was nothing in us.
We could not respond ourselves and be born again apart from
God implanting life in us. Just like He had to give life,
new life, to the womb of Sarah before she could have the miracle
child Isaac. The same is true with every sinner. God must put in divine life and
power into that life before they can come forth out of spiritual
death unto spiritual life. And for anything good to come
out of this dunghill, My friend, how is anything good going to
come? Can man that is born of a woman, can he be clean? Job
asked. Well yes he can, but with man
it's impossible, but with God it is possible. Now you think
about this dung hill, this old vessel that you and I have had
this good work begun in. And, you know, to find something
good in this old flesh, in this old man, to find something good
in this person, it would be like you taking a cup and going to
a cesspool and dipping that cup in a cesspool and dipping it
in the water and bringing it up and that water be pure to
drink, that water be wholesome, that water be perfect. Now, beloved,
This is a cesspool. And God has started to work. Hallelujah. He's come up with
the cup of pure water in this old soul. And He's started to
work. And so this is so important.
And then, as you think about that, this is the miracle of
the new birth. God has started to work in you. In you. In you. Think about you. He started
a good work in you. In you. And then it's a miracle
if any continue in the faith after they have made a profession
of faith. It's a miracle if any continue. I've often thought
about this. I've been in the way a long time,
but I've often thought, my, my, my. I've had to say and just
get on my face and thank God for His grace. that He preserved
me through another situation, through a difficult trial, through
something that I thought surely was going to get me, for sure,
and God brought me through by His grace. It is a miracle! Somebody
said it's like a man walking on a real narrow ridge, and with
gale force winds blowing against him from every direction, and
he's able to stay on that narrow ridge. That's how much of a miracle
it is if you and I keep on walking in the ways of God. Keep on believing
and keep on fellowshipping and keep on having something in here
that drives you to come to the place of worship and to fellowship
with God's people and to keep on in the way to have something
in here. Oh, it's a miracle of the grace
of God. There are so many professors.
that start out, but they don't ever make it. And they turn from
the way. They turn from the way and they
go away. But thanks be unto God, His people will hold to their
way. They will hold to their way.
And then, if you're talking about a miracle, think about our resurrection
from the dead. And you know, it's to come. And we know that the Lord's salvation
won't be complete until our bodies have been raised from the dead.
You know it says in John chapter 5 that marvel not at this, the
hour is coming when all that are in the graves will hear His
voice. And they'll come forth, some to the resurrection of good
and others to the resurrection of damnation. So there's coming
a resurrection. But think about the miracle of
that. Think about the miracle of that.
The devil will tell you every day it'll never happen. It'll
never happen. It'll never happen. You go out
there at that cemetery and you look around and you just see
how permanent that thing looks to be. But I'm telling you, God
said it's going to happen. It's going to happen. It will
happen. And the day will come when you, maybe, I hope it's
not you that's driving by, but somebody will be driving by these
cemeteries, and it'll be the awfulest cloud of dust coming
up out of that cemetery that you could imagine. Wonderful,
wonderful, God's raising His people from the dead! He's going
to raise them up! But that's a miracle, my friend.
That's not going to happen just because there's something in
old bodies when they bury them that'll just cause it someday
to spring up. No! There's got to be a voice,
and that voice has got to be the voice of authority that calls
forth the dead. This is a miracle of the grace
of God. He, which hath begun the good
work and you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."
Well, Paul is what? He's confident of this. He's
confident of it. That means he's sure that God
had begun this good work. Now, you know sometimes we pass
over, and I know that people do it. I know that you're probably
guilty of it, and I've been guilty of it. But we need to think about
that he there. He. Being confident of this very
thing, that he. Who is the he? Do you know who
the he is? Well, a lot of people that believe
that you can start out and then finally be lost again after you've
once been truly saved, they need to take a look at this. He. He.
Well, you know, we read over in 1 Corinthians 1 that of God
are you in Christ Jesus, of God. This He here is God Almighty
Himself. He's the one. He's the one. And
we need to think about that in James 1.18, of His own will. begat he us with the word of
truth. John 1, born not of the will
of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of God. Of God. Of God. He. He. We must keep
our eyes on Him. Because if we don't, if we don't
keep our eyes on the Lord in this thing, then we're going
to lose our traction running the race. if we get our eyes
off of who is doing this now he said a good work in me a good
work now we know that when our Lord created the heavens and
the earth he looked at it and said it's good good and then
when he created man he said it's good and at the end of the first
chapter of Genesis he said It was very good. Very good. Now, beloved, there's something
we need to understand about this good work. And that is that it's
a perfect work. It is a perfect work. Nothing
can be added to it. Nothing can be taken from it.
Now, you see, if I started a work, it wouldn't be perfect. If you
start one, it ain't gonna be perfect. I already know that.
You don't have to say anymore. It's all over and done. anything
we start is not perfect but what he starts is a perfect work it's
a good a good a good work now let me say that that this good work in me this
good work was for me and then also in me good work for me you
know You probably run across this little saying that says,
upon a life which I did not live, upon a death which I did not
die, hangs my whole eternity. He did a good work for me. I
mean, do you know that he paid my debt? He paid a debt he did
not owe. I owed a debt I could not pay. He paid the debt for me. Now, that's the gospel. He paid the debt for me. This
debt, this horrible debt of sin, the Lord Jesus Christ paid that
debt for me. For me. This is part of this
good work, which he himself did. And He's made me glad through
the work of His hands. It's His work. He lived a vicarious
life. Do you know that? He lived it
on the behalf of others. He lived a perfect life on the
behalf of others. And Paul said in Colossians 2
and verse 9 and 10 that we're complete in Him. Complete. Complete in Him because this
work for me. Now and also for in me. Thank God something happened
in me. 1 Corinthians 5, 17 says, If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creation. Old things passed away. Old things
become new. Something happens in a man when
he becomes a new creature in Christ. Something happens in
him. In him. But let me illustrate to you
that this is something that happens in a man and that it's got nothing
to do with what happens outside of a man. For an example, I'm
going to use just one example, and that is a thief on the cross.
Thief on the cross. He asked that the Lord remember
him when he comes into his kingdom. And the Lord said, today thou
shalt be with me in paradise. You're going to heaven today.
You're going to heaven right now. You're going to heaven.
Now then, I want to ask you a question. Did that thief on the cross,
did he ever attend a prayer meeting? No. Was he ever baptized? No. Did he ever witness to anybody? No, not that I know of. Did he
ever go from house to house knocking on doors trying to get people
interested in church? No, not that I know of. But he
was going to heaven that day. Now then my friend, what I'm
just trying to say is this. that if that man would have lived
a hundred years in this world after the Lord said today, thou
shalt be with me in paradise, he wouldn't have been any more
meet for the inheritance of the saints in light than what he
was that very hour. He wouldn't have been any better
shaped for heaven. We read in Colossians 1 verse
12 where it says, giving thanks unto the Father who hath made
us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in
light. We've been made meat by the Lord, giving thanks to the
Father. Why thank Him for it if He didn't do it? I thank Him
for it because He did do it. He translated me out of the kingdom
of darkness into the kingdom of His own dear Son. He did it. He did it for me. So He did a
work for me, and He did a work in me. And this was a good work,
a very good work. One, as I said, the scripture
says that he's going to perform. Now, remember what he said here.
He said, I'm going to perform it until the day of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I'm going to do it. He said,
I'm going to do it. Anybody going to dispute with
him? I'll tell you, the true sheep of Christ, the work's going
to be performed. Now, what does that mean to you?
Well, what it means to me is that the Lord is going to see
me through. What it means to me is, in the
words of the old song, that He will keep me till the river rolls
its water at my feet and bear me safely over till my loved
ones I meet. The Lord is going to bear me
over. He's going to keep me. That's what it means. He'll keep
me. He'll perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Now brethren,
this is what I believe. I believe that if I got within
a foot of heaven, got my foot even on the doorstep of heaven,
and my finger on the latch on the door, and he left me to myself,
that I'd turn right around and go right back to hell. That's
what I'd do. But he said, now this is what he said. Now you
remember I spent a little time talking about who this he is.
I'm talking about He said, and this is scripture. All scripture
is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. And we need
to hear it here. He says He will perform it until
the day of Jesus Christ. That means He'll find a way.
You say, I don't know how He's ever going to do it. He'll find
a way! Now my friend, do you know He
took your case when you were desperate? Desperate. I mean
you were in an awful state. I told you about your pollution
and your corruption and what an awful thing that nature, old
nature is. The nature of the old man. But
he took you on then. He took you on. He took your
case. Took your case. Now you say, well is that real
meaningful? It is to me. It is to me. He took my case. Now, beloved,
listen to me. It's really something, you know.
If you can get the right person to work on your case, my friend,
you can rest, can't you? You can just rest. Oh, I know
so-and-so. I'll turn this over to him. It'll
be done. They'll get it done. He'll get
it done. Well, I want to tell you what.
He's took your case. If He's given unto you eternal
life, if He put His Spirit in you, He's took your case, and
I want to tell you what, he's going to perform it. He's going
to see to it it's accomplished. He's going to bring it to pass.
Now, I know some of you are terribly, terribly frightened that you're
not going to make it, that you're not going to make it. But I want
to tell you what, do you have any reason whatever to believe
that he's ever touched your soul? Do you have any reason to believe
it? Surely, my friend, if you've got any reason, whatever, to
believe through the blessing of the Word of God to your heart
and to your soul, any assurance that God has given you based
on His naked Word, surely, surely, surely your case is not more
desperate today than what it was when He first took you on.
And do you not believe that an all-wise God, an omniscient God, knew everything about you before
He ever laid hands on you? And do you think He'd take your
case, not knowing something that was going to happen in the future? He knows everything. He knows
you. He knew you from the beginning.
He told Jeremiah, He said, I knew you before you were formed in
the belly. I knew you. I knew you. I knew all about
you. I purposed your coming into this world. I know. So He's going
to perform it. He is. I didn't say this church
here is going to do it. I said He's going to do it. He's
going to do it. I just believe He'll find a way.
Go ahead. He'll find a way. He's going
to do it. Well, wasn't that what Paul said
over there in Thessalonians chapter 5? Who also will do it, He'll
do it. You say, well, do you suppose
I'm going to get the rod laid on my back in here as I go down
the road? Nine times out of ten, it'll
happen. It'll happen. You say, well, do you think the
Lord will have to correct me? I think He will correct you.
Scripture says, every son whom He receives, He chastens. You think God knows how to raise
children? I'd vote for Him, wouldn't you? Amen? I think He knows how. I think he knows how. Somebody
said, well, that rebel, he'll never make it. You let God get
a hold of him. When the Lord gets a hold of
him, when the Lord takes up his case, he'll get there. He'll
get there. It'll be alright. He's going
to make it. He's going to make it. Well,
I want to encourage you. There's some more things, but
it's another sermon altogether, so maybe I better... I just want
to remind you of one thing. He said, till the day. until
the day of Jesus Christ, until the day. Let me read this verse
out of Philippians 3 here, and then I'm going to close. I made
a big issue out of... I was preaching in Wisconsin
last week. They cut my time real short, and I made an issue out
of saying that through the years, I almost always let people out
before 12 o'clock. And I did end up going about
five minutes over, but I didn't want to. But I did do that. But I just want you to look at
this verse and be thinking about it. And if I get a chance to
preach to you again, I might just go ahead and finish the
message. Philippians 3 and verse 20, 21. For our conversation
is in heaven. Citizenship. That's where we're
not citizens of this world anymore. If we're bound for heaven, if
Christ lives in us, if we're believers, then our citizenship
is in heaven. Citizens of that country. From
whence also we look for the Savior. That's our posture. We're looking
for the Savior. Say, do you really believe that
stuff about Christ coming back? I do. I do. And if you have any evidence
to the contrary, don't tell me about it. I don't want to hear
about it. He's coming back. He said, if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again. There ye may be also. I believe it. I believe it. So we're looking for Him to come. And then when He comes, He's going to change our vile
body. Who shall change our vile body? Now I've got to point this
out to you. When the Lord comes and changes
your body, you say, well I'm polishing on this old vessel.
I've scraped two or three layers off already. Trying to get this
thing to look a little better. Trying to get this thing a little
bit more holy. Trying to get this thing right. I've been working
on this old vessel. The day that the Lord changes
your body, you know what kind of body it's going to be? It's
going to be vile. It's going to be vile. And I'm
just telling you, so that you won't get so discouraged along
the way, you've got a vile body. Even though you're looking for
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and even though your
citizenship is in heaven, you have a vile body. And Paul, when
he got down toward the end of his life, He said, O wretched
man that I am, who's gonna deliver me? God, Christ Jesus the Lord. He'll deliver me from this old
wretched man that I am. He'll deliver me. Okay, now,
have I got it read yet? Who shall change our body that
it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body? according
to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things
unto himself." Even rebellious men and women, boys and girls,
he can subdue them unto himself. Well, that's the same power that
he's going to use to change these bodies. I thank God that today is going
to come when we're going to have a body, a brand new body, a brand
new body. Now, beloved, the question could
be asked at this point, and this is the question that I'll start
with if I have another opportunity in God's gracious and merciful
and good providence to preach again. And that is, what happens if
he fails? What happens if he fails? Huh? Somebody said, well, you mean
that's a legitimate question? Well, a lot of people say that,
you know, that a few years ago God was dead. Well, a dead God
couldn't do anything, could he? Well, you hear all kinds of stories. But what would happen? What would
have to be true for God to fail in this effort? We'll get to that if God wills,
His merciful providence. Thank you. Thank you for coming.
Pray for those who are not here. And I want to say just a word
that I really commend you brethren that have hung in there, keep
coming on Wednesday night and having your little get together
and your prayers. They mean a great deal to me
and I know they do to the church. And I appreciate so much you
doing that. And I want to say, God bless
you, Aaron, for your good service, your good service. I also point
out that this coming Saturday,