He Will Finish What He's Started

“HE WILL FINISH WHAT HE’S STARTED” Phil. 1:3-11

FBCF – 2/26/23

Jon Daniels

INTRO – Philippians 1:3-11

How many of you have been to the mountains? Rockies? Smokies? Nothing like view from the top.

- Mt. Mitchell NC

- Top of ski run in CO

- Sunrise at scenic overlook at Ridgecrest, NC

- Early morning hike w/ youth at Glorieta, NM in 1991 – One of my top 5 most powerful worship experiences in my entire life. Sunrise – began to sing. Texted friend of mine who’s a pastor now & was in youth group then – “humbling, awe-inspiring, profound”

That’s what mountaintops do to us. We experience something powerful – Something moving – Something significant – some that imprints us for the rest of our lives.

Don’t want them to end but they have to. The sun eventually comes up. The sky returns to normal. We drive back down the mountain, ski back down back down the slope, hike back down the trail.

- Peter, James, & John – Mount of Transfiguration – Matthew 17 – v. 4 – “And Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you & one for Moses & one for Elijah.’”

- Peter didn’t want to leave! “Man! This is good! Let’s just stay here!”

But that’s not why Jesus had them on that mountaintop. He didn’t take them up there to stay. He took them up there to show them something very special, to reveal to them who He truly was. Their lives were forever changed as a result of being on that mountaintop w/ Jesus!

Lots of people around the country been on a spiritual mountaintop for the last 3 wks. Revival breaking out everywhere.

God never sends revivals as an end in themselves. He sends them to stoke the fire of the Holy Spirit that is in each of us so that we can do that work that He has called us to do.

- John the Baptist – Jesus will baptize you w/ the Holy Spirit & w/ fire (Matthew 3:11)

- Holy Spirit seen as tongues of fire in Acts 2:3

- “…fan into flame the gift of God that is within you…” (2 Timothy 1:6).

- 1 Thessalonians 5:19 – “Do not quench the Spirit” – Fire is quenched when water is applied to it.

- God led His people out of captivity by a pillar of fire at night

- He spoke to Moses from a burning bush

- He is a refiner’s fire in Mal 3:2

Each of us who are Christ-followers have the fire of the Holy Spirit within us. It’s there! But b/c of our decisions to sin – secret sins, strongholds of sin, besetting/entangling sins, we can dampen that fire. We can quench the Spirit. We can cool that fire down greatly. The Spirit is still there b/c He never leaves us. But the burning presence of His fire is gone.

Not only do our decisions to sin put the fire out, but our distance from God puts it out. We move away from Him. Stop praying. Stop spending time in His Word. Stop coming to church. Stop fellowshipping w/ His people. Stop serving.

- Campfire – Logs in the fire. Burn brightly & strongly when they’re piled up together. One rolls away from fire. Stays hot for a while, but soon begins to die down until it goes out.

- When we move away from the Lord, we may keep up external appearances for a while, but internally, we are cooling down, until our fire goes out.

But then something happens. His people grow weary of their sin. They grow weary of the chill in their relationship w/ Jesus. They grow weary of the staleness of their worship, the emptiness of their prayer life, the monotony of their time in the Word. They grow weary of just marking time in their walk w/ Christ. Deep down inside, they know something’s not right. They know there’s something more to the Christian life that what they’re experiencing. They know that they’re not experiencing the abundant life that Jesus promised to us. And they begin to cry out to the Lord in honest, gut-wrenching brokenness & repentance. And hears. And God shows up. And God restores. And God revives. And, like Paul writes in Philippians 1, God promises to finish what He’s started.

What has He started?

- Our salvation – we are born again

- Our eternal life – moment we got saved, not when we die

- Growing us, maturing us, refining us, shaping us, sculpting us, making us more & more like Jesus – Ephesians 2:10 – “We are His workmanship, created IN CHRIST JESUS for good works…” – His masterpiece!