The Good Work That God Started In You

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: