Pastor Paddick Van Zyl
12-06-2022
Sermon Outline
Theme: The Good Work that God Started in You
Scripture Reference: Philippians 1: 3-10 (NKJV)
3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy,
5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now,
6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
7 just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace.
8 For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.
9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment,
10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,
11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Key verse : v 6; 9-11
6 I feel sure that the one who has begun his good work in you will go on developing it until the day of Jesus Christ. (J.B. Phillips Translation)
9 And I am praying this: that your love may be abounding still more and more in knowledge and all perception[a]
10 so that you may be approving the things mattering[b], in-order-that[c] you might be pure and blameless[d] for[e] the day of Christ,
11 having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. (Disciples’ Literal New Testament (DLNT)
Introduction
“The Bible tells us that the Lord "keeps" those who are His. It is God Who keeps – our part is to believe and to use the means of perseverance He has provided.”1Allistair Begg
God is not interrupted. And God does not give up. And God does not allow His projects to go unfinished.
A central theme in all of the Apostle Paul’s letters is his prayers for the believers… he not only encourages us all to pray for one another but he gives us the words as it were (template) of how to pray for each other. (Ephesians 1:17-21, Ephesians 3:14-19, Colossians 1:9-14, 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13, 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12 & 14 other scriptures !)
Sermon message
I would like to look at two aspects in this portion of Scripture today:
*The Keeping power of God
*The enabling power of God in our lives to love God’s people
A. Verse 6 has 2 elements to it, namely; It is a work of grace and it will be completed by God Himself as Spurgeon remarks:
“It was indeed a good work begun in the Philippians and in all believers. “The work of grace has its root in the divine goodness of the Father, it is planted by the self-denying goodness of the Son, and it is daily watered by the goodness of the Holy Spirit; it springs from good and leads to good, and so is altogether good.” (Spurgeon)
“Because this good work was begun, Paul was confident of its completion. God is a worker who completes His works. “Where is there an instance of God’s beginning any work and leaving it incomplete? Show me for once a world abandoned and thrown aside half formed; show me a universe cast off from the Great Potter’s wheel, with the design in outline, the clay half hardened, and the form unshapely from incompleteness.” (Spurgeon)
God is actively involved in the believer's life to bring this to pass. God works in our lives in the way a craftsman works to finish a product he has created. He smooths out the lines, sands the rough places, and puts its pieces together in proper proportion.
*Ephesians 2:8-10: We are saved by grace through faith, we are His workmanship, not our doing, a gift
*Philippians 2:13: God works in us to will and to work for His good pleasure
“He who began a good work in you — saving you and beginning to make you more like Jesus — he will complete that work. Now, you are counted perfect through faith in Jesus. Then, you will be presented perfect — no sin, no shame, no guilt, no doubt, no fear — nothing broken about you. ” (Marshall Segal)
Salvation is the good work God does in us when we trust His Son. In Philippians 2:12–13 we are told that God continues to work in us through His Spirit. In other words, salvation includes a threefold work:
•The work God does for us—salvation;
• The work God does in us—sanctification;
• The work God does through us—service.
Notice the words: ‘begun, complete, until the day of Christ’ – there is a ‘beginning’ work and a ‘continuing’ work. This proves that God by His Spirit is working in us right now, to correct us, to grow us (in holiness and the character of Jesus), to discipline us. Growing always speaks of action – a rose bush has to be pruned and fed and cultivated to produce awesome roses or it will be mediocre in its flowering or may even shrivel up and die (worst case scenario).
*The emphasis that Paul is trying to bring home to us is this: the work God is doing in us now, would increase, develop, and multiply until the end when God would finally finish the work.
Look at Ephesians 4:13-14 (Moffatt NT)
13 …till we should all attain the unity of the faith and knowledge of God's Son, reaching maturity, reaching the full measure of development which belongs to the fullness of Christ??
14 instead of remaining immature, blown from our course and swayed by every passing wind of doctrine
This work will continue until we see Christ, and then the work will be fulfilled. “We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).
God's work is manifested in His will playing out in our lives. This is what Paul says a bit later in Philippians: "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:1–213).
We read in 1st Peter 1 :3-9 (CSB):
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
5 You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 You rejoice in this,[a] even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials
7 so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; though not seeing him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy,
9 because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
*Verse 5 also reads ‘kept’ in other translations. It is God who does the keeping but we do the believing.
“It was a source of joy to Paul to know that God was still working in the lives of his fellow believers at Philippi. After all, this is the real basis for joyful Christian fellowship, to have God at work in our lives day by day.” 2
“It was an inside job that God performed in the depths of their souls, down deep in their inner person. We would say in their heart or in their spirit. It was not a superficial work that lay on the outside, or the perimeter of their life. God got through to them. And God did this good work in them just like He has in you.” 3
The story is told of an artist who called a friend in and asked him to comment on a picture he was painting. He said, this is my masterpiece. It is beautiful. The man said I guess I don't see what you see. It just looks like dabs of different colours to me, without form or anything. The artist said, Oh I forgot. I'm seeing it as it will be when finished. You are seeing it as it is now.
Often we get discouraged with our faith walk, when like Paul we mutter to ourselves:
21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.
22 I love God’s law with all my heart.
23 But there is another power[e] within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.
24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?
25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin. Roman 7:21-25 NLT
But verse 6 of Philippians chapter 1 is a reminder, as Ray Stedman remarks:
“This means that life is not perfect yet. It has an adequate goal, and it is a goal which will be reached, and the final responsibility is not in my hands but in God's. I love that! Paul's confidence is placed in a Person, not on himself. We are all, if we know Christ, in the hands of the One who can change us. Sometimes we don't want to be what God wants us to be, but it's being done in us despite us. God knows how to bring us into the circumstances that will make us willing to be made willing, if He needs to. It's a great consolation to recognize in whose hands we are.”4
“But Paul’s hope and joy in Philippians 1:6 wasn’t penned merely to be a wait-and-see prayer, but a press-on-in-the-work prayer for the spread of the gospel — first in their own hearts and holiness, and then to more and more who have not yet heard or embraced the good news. God will be completing what he’s been doing among us, in each of us and through us to the world around us (Isaiah 55:11) — all through love, a love formed and carried along by the truth.” (Segal Marshall)
B. Verse 9 of Philippians 1, Paul tells them that he prays for them that their love may abound more
“Paul found joy in his memories of the friends at Philippi and in his growing love for them. He also found joy in remembering them before the throne of grace in prayer, Perhaps the deepest Christian fellowship and joy we can experience in this life is at the throne of grace, praying with and for one another.” 5
This is a prayer for maturity, and Paul began with love. After all, if our Christian love is what it ought to be, everything else should follow. He prayed that they might experience abounding love and discerning love. Christian love is not blind! The heart and mind work together so that we have discerning love and loving discernment. Paul wanted his friends to grow in discernment, in being able to “distinguish the things that differ.” The ability to distinguish is a mark of maturity.
This love that Paul writes about is:
*A compassionate love (Phil 1:16)
*A unifying love (Phil 2;2)
* A love that is gentle (1 Cor 4:21)
* A love that is humble (1 Cor 8:1)
* A love that is patient (Eph 4:2)
* A sacrificial love (1 John 4:9-10)
Ray Stedman comments as follows: “…love in action! Not promise but performance. I think they needed this in Philippi, and I think we need it wherever we live as well, that our love may abound in activity. Otherwise, it's as James says, faith without works is dead. If love doesn't show itself in some action, then it's not real love. Paul says that isn't enough. Love with knowledge. Learn the situation. See how you can really help. Don't just plan to help without any investigation as to whether it will do the job.” 6
C. Verse 10 of Philippians 1, reminds us to be: sincere and without offense: When we approve and receive the things that are excellent, we become sincere (speaking of inner righteousness) and without offense (speaking of outer righteousness that can be seen). Till the day of Christ means that these things become increasingly evident in our life until Jesus comes.
Now, the Word of God has very stern warnings against being offended. This is a very clever trap designed by the enemy. Have you noticed that people say “I take offense at that”? We have to ‘take’ the bait (offense) for it to work. But we should also be careful not to ‘cause’ another to be offended by our actions/words/intentions. Paul prayed that they will be sincere in their character. When we have mature Christian character, we will ‘less likely’ cause others to stumble or be offended…(I say less likely since we still grow in Christ and this is an ongoing process)
D. Verse 11 of Philippians 1: Bearing fruit is always the result of abiding in Jesus (John 15:4-6). As we abide in Him, we receive the life and nutrients we need to naturally bear fruit to the glory and praise of God.
Paul prays that the Philippians be filled and fruitful (Phil. 1:11). He was not interested simply in “church activities,” but in the kind of spiritual fruit that is produced when we are in fellowship with Christ.
Too many Christians try to “produce results” in their own efforts instead of abiding in Christ and allowing His life to produce the fruit.
What is the “fruit” God wants to see from our lives?
*The fruit of the Spirit” (Gal.5:22–23)
*Christian character that glorifies God. Paul compared winning lost souls to Christ to bearing fruit
(Rom. 1:13)
* Holiness as a spiritual fruit (Rom. 6:22)
* The fruit of doing good to others: “fruitful in every good work” (Col. 1:10)
*Our praise is the “fruit of our lips” (Heb. 13:15).
I like what Warren Wiersbe says about fruit: “The fruit tree does not make a great deal of noise when it produces its crop; it merely allows the life within to work in a natural way, and fruit is the result. True spiritual fruit is so beautiful and wonderful that no man can claim credit for it; the glory must go to God alone” 7
Discernment (according to Sinclair Ferguson):
“So discernment is learning to think God's thoughts after Him, practically and spiritually; it means having a sense of how things look in God's eyes and seeing them in some measure "uncovered and laid bare" (Heb. 4:13).”8
“The Impact of Discernment - How does this discernment affect the way we live?:
1. It acts as a means of protection, guarding us from being deceived spiritually. It protects us from being blown away by the winds of teaching that make central an element of the gospel that is peripheral or treat a particular application of Scripture as though it were Scripture's central message.
2. Discernment also acts as an instrument of healing, when exercised in grace. I have known a small number of people whose ability to diagnose the spiritual needs of others has been remarkable. Such people seem able to penetrate into the heart issues someone else faces better than the person can do. Of course, this is in some ways a dangerous gift with which God has entrusted them. But when exercised in love, discernment can be the surgical scalpel in spiritual surgery that makes healing possible.” 9
When we love with discernment, we should ask the Holy Spirit to guide us in how to pray and what to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ.
“The true source and means of supernatural love for your life is exclusively through Jesus Christ, the person and work of Christ. So, as you would have this love increasing in your life, I would urge each one of us to draw near to Christ, to abide in Christ, to follow Christ, to give honor and glory to Christ. And as we do, we are hooked up to the true source of supernatural love. And it will flow in and through our lives in ways that will result in praise and glory being given to God the Father.” 10
John Piper: “We need truth saturated love and love saturated truth (Rom 12:2 & Eph 4:22-23)”11
“True love, effective love, world-changing love is an enlightened love, a love sharpened with and filled by truth. You can’t love like God loves unless your mind is engaged rightly. Good loving requires good, right thinking. And this love — an affection for others grounded in and stirred by the truth — is what God builds into our hearts as he works to complete us. It’s the heavy reconstruction our hearts need in order to meet him on the last day.” (Segal Marshall)
Closing:
Sometimes we allow the ministry and our businesses for the Gospel to get in the way of really loving God’s people. To pray for our brothers and sisters, to bring their needs, before our own needs, to the throne of grace.
Paul’s fondest recollection of the Philippians was their partnership for the Gospel, but his keenest prayer for them was that their love may abound even more.
What does true Christian fellowship look like? It is “a having in common that is much deeper than mere friendship. “I have you in my mind … I have you in my heart … I have you in my prayers.” This is the kind of fellowship that produces joy, and it is the single mind that produces this kind of fellowship!
In the word of Paul Tripp:
“Today, would you humbly admit with me that you forget what’s truly important? Would you be willing to re-evaluate your priorities once more? Would you confess that your values need to be clarified, not just once more, but every single day?
Thankfully, God has given us his Word to remind us. He has provided us with thousands of reminders, scattered through the pages of Scripture.
On top of that, God has lavished us with grace: enabling grace to choose the right values, forgiving grace when we fail, and perhaps my favourite - the grace of future completion (Philippians 1:6).
There will be a day when you and I, like the great multitude, will see Christ face to face and forever have our values clarified. Until then, we need all the grace God provides.” 12
We should be asking God, “Father give me a deeper, purer, fuller love that would come flowing out of my heart.” Not just that we would have more knowledge in our heads, but that we would have more love in our hearts for others.
Amen.
End Notes:
1 Begg, Allistair : The Keeping Power of God Truth for Life
2 Wiersbe, Warren, W.: The Wiersbe Bible Commentary- The Complete New Testament In One Volume, : David Cook Publishing, CO, 2007, p. 629
3 Lawson, Steven, J : One Passion Ministries: A Pastor’s Heart- Part 2; https://onepassionministries.org/2015-11-25-a-pastors-heart-pt-2-16-8/
4 Stedman, Ray: https://www.raystedman.org/daily-devotions/philippians/where-is-your-confidence
5 Wiersbe, Warren, W.: The Wiersbe Bible Commentary- The Complete New Testament In One Volume, : David Cook Publishing, CO, 2007, p. 630
6 Stedman, Ray: https://www.raystedman.org/daily-devotions/philippians/love-with-knowledge
7 Wiersbe, Warren, W.: The Wiersbe Bible Commentary- The Complete New Testament In One Volume, : David Cook Publishing, CO, 2007, p.631
8 Ferguson, Sinclair, B: In Christ Alone – Living the Gospel Centered Life, Reformation Trust Publishing, FL, 2007 P.238
9 Ferguson, Sinclair, B: In Christ Alone – Living the Gospel Centered Life, Reformation Trust Publishing, FL, 2007 p.238-240
10 Lawson, Steven, J : One Passion Ministries: A Pastor’s Heart, Part 3, https://onepassionministries.org/2015-11-30-a-pastors-heart-pt-3-19-11/
11Piper, John: https://www.desiringgod.org/labs/learn-to-delight-in-excellence
12 Tripp, Paul: Value Clarification: https://www.paultripp.com/articles/posts/value-clarification
Segal , Marshall: Desiring God.org; Septmeber14, 2014, Love That Will Complete You
