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 and every prayer of mine for you all making request 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." Now, on his second missionary journey into Asia Minor, Paul intended to go up into the northern parts of Asia. But you remember what happened. He had a vision in which there was a man from Macedonia calling him to come over into Macedonia and help him there. And so Paul and Silas and we learn from the book of Acts that Luke was with them. Paul and Silas and Luke immediately set sailed in for Macedonia. Now, when they arrived on the mainland there in Macedonia, they headed for Philippi, which the Bible says was the chief city of Macedonia. And when they entered into the city there at Philippi, believe it or not, there was no band playing, no confetti flying from the balconies, no welcoming party for Paul and Silas and Luke and the others. There were no seeming ready-made preaching opportunities. And the Bible says that they abided there for certain days before anything happened. Finally, Paul heard about a prayer meeting down by the riverside where certain women were want to go, it says, and they met regularly there by the riverside to pray. So Paul went out to see them. And when he got there, he was warmly received by the women there by the riverside, and they asked him if he would speak to them. So Paul sat down by the riverside and taught them about Christ. The Lord was gracious on that occasion and he opened the heart of one woman whose name was Lydia and God so moved in Lydia's heart that she received the gospel and she was saved and it says that she and her household were saved and they were baptized and she. It says constrained Paul and Silas that that is they were a little bit reluctant to take advantage of her graciousness, but she constrained them to come stay at her house. And so the church at Philippi had its first recorded converts. It appears that Paul and Silas continued to go to that prayer meeting by the riverside, and for many days they did so. And while they were going to this prayer meeting by the riverside, a woman who was a fortune teller began to follow them. She did this for several days. She was a fortune teller by the power of an evil spirit. And that evil spirit had possessed her. Finally, Paul was grieved in his heart and he turned around and cast the evil spirit out of this woman. Now, this was a very wonderful day for this woman, but it was a bad day for those who had her under contract. They were making good money off of her divinations, the Bible calls it. And when they saw that her spirit of divination was lost and their profits were lost, they grabbed Paul and Silas and they dragged them into the marketplace where they accused them to the rulers. And they said, these men do exceedingly trouble our city. Boyd, Paul and Silas were troublemakers, weren't they? Cast the evil spirits out, make people whole again, doing good everywhere they went, speaking of the grace of Christ. And yet these men do exceedingly trouble our city. What they really meant was these men do exceedingly decrease our profits. And they accused Paul and Silas of teaching religious customs which were not sanctioned by Roman law. Now, they weren't that concerned about the teachings of Paul until he started to get into their pockets. Then they were greatly concerned about their religious beliefs. Now, the magistrates ordered that Paul and Silas be beaten with many stripes. and thrown into the prison. And the jailer, in order to secure them more tightly, cast them into the inner prison, which we might call the dungeon. And there he fastened Paul and Silas into the stocks. And he left them there. Paul and Silas were bleeding. Their wounds were unwashed. They were sore. They hurt. It was painful. And they were in the stocks in the dark in the dungeon. If you are ready to preach the gospel, you never know where God may send you. God has his elect here and he has them there in this world. And in this particular case, he had his elect in the prison. And so he sent Paul and Silas to prison for the gospel sake. Now, Paul and Silas were in much pain here in the dungeon. As I said, their wounds were bleeding and unwashed. They were in the dark. They were most miserable. But there is a certain joy of the Lord that cannot be extinguished by evil circumstances. And we find that at midnight, Paul and Silas were singing praises to God and they were praying in the dark of the dungeon. it is good if we can find joy in the midst of our misery. Our faith should always be such that there is gladness in the midst of sadness. No matter what dire circumstances we find ourselves in, at midnight in our misery, there is still reason to sing songs of praise unto God and to rejoice in hope. Suddenly, at midnight, there was a great earthquake Now, you never know when the deliverance of God will come. It may come at high noon and it may come at midnight. But one thing we know, it will surely come. The stocks fell off of their feet and the prison doors were opened. And the Bible tells us that the prison keeper panicked. He woke up from his sleep and saw the doors opened and he assumed that the prisoners had escaped, and he was in such distress that this prison keeper drew his sword in order to kill himself. Such is the ultimate end of the hopeless in this world. Apart from Christ, there is no hope." We may want to close that door. Somebody just close those doors. That may help just a little bit. Apart from Christ, there is no hope in this world. There is no hope in riches. There is no hope in gainful employment. There is no hope in the comforts of family and friends. For very soon, an earthquake of God's judgment will shake you loose from all of your earthly moorings. Everything that you trust in will be shaken loose and there will be no hope. And this hopeless man drew his sword to kill himself. But in Christian mercy, Paul cried out to this man and Paul said, we're still here. Don't hurt yourself. The world will forsake you, but a Christian will even love his enemies, the jailer. was overcome with emotion and with holy conviction. And he became aware of his own sin and of his own condemnation before God. The earthquake woke him up from his physical sleep, but the Holy Spirit roused him out of his spiritual sleep. Now, we don't know how the Holy Spirit does it, but the Holy Spirit comes to us at the appointed time and he jars us out of our slumber. One moment we are happy in our sins, and the next we are miserable in them. Yesterday we slumbered on in ignorance, but today we are awakened out of our sleep. And so it was for this man. Suddenly the foundations of his spiritual prison were shaken, and the stocks on his spiritual feet broke loose, and the prison doors of his heart were opened. and the Holy Spirit rushed in with a lantern, and he shined the light in the dark places, and the man saw that he was a sinner before God." Now, he brought Paul out of the dungeon, and he asked Paul, what must I do to be saved? When a man truly wants to be saved, God will send a preacher with the gospel. And in this case, God sent a preacher indeed it was the Apostle Paul. And Paul said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. I hope that you see the simplicity of the Gospel. We should not complicate it with our additions and our subtractions, with our doctrines and our traditions, but let us simply tell those who inquire how to be saved, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. This man believed. He took Paul and Silas to his own house and his whole household believed and they were all baptized. Now, we don't know how many people were in his household. Perhaps it was his wife and his children. Perhaps there were other relatives. Many times in that culture, relatives would all live together or even servants in his household. But the Bible says that they all believed and were baptized. And so you see that we have a very good beginning here to the church in Philippi. It is likely that some of the other women by the riverside also were saved. Perhaps the fortune teller was saved when the evil spirit was cast out. Perhaps others in the prison were saved who heard Paul and Silas singing praises and praying unto God. And it appears that they all began to meet in Lydia's house. Christians find a way to meet together, don't they? When Paul and Silas were released from prison, it was time for them to move on to another city, but they went to Lydia's house one more time. Take a look at Acts chapter 16 and verse 40. Acts chapter 16 and verse 40. And it says, And they went out of the prison and entered into the house of Lydia, And when they had seen the brethren, isn't that interesting? When they had seen the brethren, so there are many of them, they comforted them and departed. Now, you would have thought that Paul and Silas were the ones to be comforted, wouldn't you? They had their backs beaten. They were still sore from the beatings. But notice here that Paul and Silas comforted the brethren. true ministers are not seeking to be comforted, but to comfort others. Also notice that there is now a well populated church in Philippi. The church is now large enough that there are brethren to be comforted. Now, this morning, I want to what we're going to do a little introduction into Philippians before we actually start with the text. Let's talk, first of all, about the chronology of the church there at Philippi. Now, Paul made these first converts in Philippi on his second missionary journey, and this appears to be around A.D. 49. So this is 15, 16, 17 years after the death of Christ. Lydia and her household were converted, and then the jailer and his household were converted. And when Paul left Philippi, it says that he comforted the brethren. So there was a church in Philippi starting around 49 AD. Now a few years later on his third missionary journey, Paul made a short visit to Philippi before returning to Jerusalem. We find that in Acts chapter 20 and verse 6. And it seems that Paul stopped off there in Philippi on his way back to Jerusalem to observe the days of the feast. Sometime later, Paul was arrested in Jerusalem and finally taken to Rome, where he was put under house arrest. And while he was under arrest in Rome, he wrote four epistles. He wrote Ephesians, which we've studied in the Ladies Bible Study recently, Philippians, which we're studying now, Colossians and Philemon. So this book of Philippians was clearly written from prison. That's why we call them the prison epistles. Take a look at Philippians chapter 1 verses 12 and 13. It says, But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather under the furtherance of the gospel, so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in all other places. So it clearly seems that Philippians was written while Paul was in bonds there at the palace which would indicate that it was in his Roman imprisonment. Now let's talk about the, now that by the way was around A.D. 62 when he wrote this book of Philippians. So you see that the church in Philippi is 12 or 13 years old at this point. What is the theme of the book of Philippians. I bet if I ask that question I know what about 90 percent of you would say and you would not be wrong. You would say that it is the joy of the Lord and that is generally how the book of Philippians is described. It's a book about the joy of the Lord. But I would suggest to you that there is a more important theme, more prominent theme running through the book of Philippians, and that is the preeminence of the gospel. The overriding theme of the book of Philippians is the preeminence of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is our great duty and our great joy to put the gospel first. If the gospel is going forth, then we take joy in our circumstances, whatever they may be. Paul was imprisoned for the sake of the gospel, and he counted it great joy to be in prison for this wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, the Philippians were suffering on account of the gospel. It says in Philippians 1.29, for unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, but also to what? Suffer for his sake. So you see, Paul was suffering. The Philippians were suffering, and yet they were rejoicing in the promulgation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Philippians were also sacrificing and sending Paul financial aid. And in this way they were sharing in the gospel. And it was a great joy for them to do so. Look at Philippians chapter 4. Verses 15 and 16, it says, Now ye Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity. Let me just show you how prominent the gospel theme is in this book of Philippians. Now go back to Philippians chapter 1. Look at verses 4 and 5. It says, 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. Verse 7. Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace." Verse 12, "...but I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather under the furtherance of the gospel." Verse 16 and 17, The one preached Christ of contention, not sincerely supposing to add affliction to my bonds, but the other with love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel. Verse 27, only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you or else be present, I may hear of your affairs that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. There is a purpose that holds the church together. And this purpose is the defense and promulgation of the gospel. The business of the church is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, many churches have long since abandoned that purpose. The central purpose of the church is not social interaction. It is not recreation. It is not entertainment. It is not financial gain. But it is the gospel. The gospel is front and center. The recreation facilities may burn down. And if they do, we have not suffered much loss. But if the gospel flame is extinguished, then we have suffered loss indeed. And the book of Philippians is about the preeminence of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But it is also about the joy derived from sharing in the gospel. Philippians truly is a letter filled with Paul's joy and filled with the hope of their joy. It is a delightful and uplifting book written in the context of imprisonment. and suffering. Now, what if a mother got a letter from her son who was in prison and rather than expressing tears and anguish, the letter expressed joy and gladness? Why, how his mother would be cheered by such a letter. And Paul wrote such a letter to his little children in Philippi. This book is about the joy of participating and sharing in the great purpose of the church, the spread of the gospel. And Paul says, though I suffer want, I have great joy. Though I am abased, he says, I rejoice. Even when I am hungry, he says, I rejoice. And that's Philippians 4, verse 12. Paul saw everything that happened to him as a blessing for the promulgation of the gospel. Look at Philippians 1.12 again, it says, But I would that ye understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather under the furtherance of the gospel. The word joy or rejoice is found at least 13 times in this book. Philippians 1-4, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy. Philippians 1-18, what then, notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. Philippians 1-25, and having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy in faith. that your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my commanding to you again. Philippians 2.2, fulfill ye my joy. Philippians 2.17, yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all for the same cause also. Do ye joy and rejoice with me. Look at Philippians 3.1. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. And Philippians 4.1. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice. Needless to say, one of the great themes of Philippians is the theme of rejoicing in the great cause of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I want to now get into the text and show you, first of all, the writers of this epistle. Obviously, the text says Paul and Timotheus. It is clear that Paul was the writer of this book. Paul was divinely inspired in his writings. Timothy was not an apostle. He was an evangelist and was not inspired. And yet Paul includes Timothy in the inscription. Now, this would seem, first of all, to show the great humility of Paul. Paul was not interested in his own glory. Paul was not interested in taking sole credit for his work. And so he included Timothy. Undoubtedly, Timothy read the letter and lent his full agreement to it. And so Paul attached Timothy's name right beside his. But not only did Paul show his own humility by placing Timothy's name beside his own, but also he put honor on the name of Timothy. What a great honor upon Timothy to have his name attached along with Paul on a divinely inspired writing. It is good for aged Christians and strong Christians and eminent Christians like Paul to support the reputation of the younger ministers. How unseemly it would have been for Paul to have resented the rise of Timothy. What if Paul had been jealous and resentful? Why, he could have done great harm to this young man, but instead he bestowed great honor on Timothy and encouraged him by placing Timothy's name beside his own as the author of this letter. So the writer is Paul writers, Paul and Timothy. And it says that they were the servants of Jesus Christ. This is how Paul saw himself. Paul did not see himself as a prince, but as a servant. Now, certainly, Paul occupied the highest office in the church, the office of apostle. And Timothy was also a high officer, being an evangelist and a minister. to the churches. However, they did not consider themselves masters of the churches, but rather servants of Christ. This should be the attitude of all of Christ's ministers. There is no room for haughty spirit in the service of Christ. We are not haughty masters, but we are humble servants. And so Paul thought of himself Now I want you to also notice here the persons to whom the epistle is written. It says to all the saints in Christ who are at Philippi with the bishops and beacons. I want you to take notice first that he mentions the church before he mentions the ministers, doesn't he? He doesn't say to the ministers along with the church. Rather, he says, the church along with the ministers. This would suggest that it is the church who are most important. The ministers are for the church. The ministers are for the edification and benefit of the saints. It is not the other way around. The church is not for the benefit of the minister. The church is not primarily for the dignity and dominion of the minister. The minister is for the welfare of the church. Second Corinthians chapter one in verse 24 says not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy for by faith ye stand. So the proper order in the church is Christ. then the saints, and then the ministers. And the minister sees himself as serving first Christ and then his saints. Notice that Christians are called saints. All Christians are saints. The title saint is not reserved for the more eminent Christians, as in the Catholic Church. but the honor is bestowed on every Christian. The word simply means that God has set us apart. We have been selected out of the masses, and we have been distinguished from them. We are distinguished, first of all, by God's election. God chose us before the foundation of the world in Ephesians 1-4. And we are further distinguished by our calling He calls us unto salvation, and we are distinguished by our drawing. God draws us by His power to Himself, and we are distinguished by regeneration. God makes us alive, but the difference goes on and on. We are distinguished by our faith and by our repentance, for who can believe and who can repent apart from the power of God? But we are also distinguished by our holy living. We are a different people. There is a different rule of life and there is a different power of life in us. And there is real holiness in a true Christian. Matthew Henry put it this way. He said, those who are not really saints on earth will never be saints in heaven. Notice that the epistle is written to all the saints. It is written to each one. It is written to the weakest as well as the strongest. It is written to the poor as well as the rich. It is written to those with few gifts and those with many gifts. This should teach us that we must not make a difference in our care for the saints. All saints. are precious in His sight. It says in James 2.1, we must not have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ with respect of persons. Christians are accepted only as they are in Christ. Except for Christ, the best saints are mere sinners. And so we accept fully all those who profess and evidence faith in Jesus Christ. So it says, Paul and Timotheus to all the saints. But then notice that the epistle is also directed to the bishops and deacons at Philippi. It says in 1.1, Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus, which are at Philippi with the bishops and deacons. Now, the epistle is directed first to the saints and then to the servants of the saints, the bishops and the deacons. This would appear to be the only two authorized offices in the church. There are bishops and there are deacons. There are no popes. There are no cardinals. No other administrators in the church. Christ is the head and then there are bishops and deacons. Now, we don't use the word bishop so much anymore, do we? Because the word has been used in the Catholic Church to apply to a non-biblical office. In the Catholic Church, the bishop is one who rules over lots of churches. He rules over a diocese, doesn't he? And in the diocese, there are many churches. And the bishop in the Catholic Church has authority over the priests in each of his churches. But there is no such arrangement in the Scriptures. The bishop is also called an elder in the Bible and is also called a pastor in the Bible. And he never had authority over many churches. but rather he served one church. You will notice here that Paul referred to the bishops in Philippi. It seems to me that in the scriptures, it was not unusual to have more than one person carrying on the pastoral work, particularly as the church became large. It seemed that it might have been necessary to have multiple pastors. and the duties of the pastors were to teach the word of God and to give direction or to rule, the Bible says, the church. And then there were the deacons. The deacons were to take care of the poor and to take care of the outward business of the church and to look out for the maintenance and well-being of the pastors of the church. and to relieve them as best they could so that the pastors could labor in the Word. And so this epistle was written to all the saints and then to the pastors and deacons at Philippi. Now, let's take a look at the benediction very briefly. It says, Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the standard greeting which Paul used in almost all of his epistles So let's just make three observations here. First of all, let me suggest to you that there is no peace without grace. Grace is the starting point of all spiritual blessings, and we shall never have peace with God except by grace. We cannot earn it. We cannot buy it. We cannot share in the cost of peace. Peace with God is a free gift that comes by the grace of God to those who are undeserving. And so Paul says, grace be unto you and then peace. Secondly, there is no grace and peace except by God the Father. If a man is to have spiritual blessings, it must come from the source of spiritual blessings. James 1 and verse 17 says, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights. But thirdly, notice here that there is no grace and peace from God the Father except through Jesus Christ. No man can worship the Father except through Christ. Christ is the channel of every good gift which comes to the church. Gifts come from the Father, but only through Christ and Christ directs how they shall be parceled out to the members. Now, many people say that we all worship the same God. We just call him by different names, you see. But the Bible says that unless you call him by the name of Jesus Christ, your answer, your worship is unaccepted. Now, very briefly, I want to take a look here at the thanksgiving of Paul, Philippians chapter 1, verses 3 through 6. He says, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always and every prayer of mine for you all, making a request 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. I want you to see, first of all, that Paul remembered them. You see that in the text, right? I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. I'm sure that Paul remembered Lydia and remembered the jailer, and he must have thought of them often, even when they were out of sight, they were not out of his mind. And this is the way it should be with God's ministers. They were his spiritual children and they would always be. in his thoughts, but also notice that Paul remembered them with joy. You might have thought that Paul would have had some hard feelings toward Philippi. He was scourged there and he was put in the stocks there. But no, he remembered Philippi with joy. He looked upon his sufferings for Christ as a crown of glory. And I'm sure that he counted the scars on his back with pride and he was pleased with every mention of Philippi. But mostly, Paul was filled with joy, not so much because of the place, but because of the people who were converted there. But also notice that Paul remembered them in prayer. It seems that Paul went often to the throne of grace on behalf of his converts. And he mentioned the Philippians especially before God. It says that he made requests for them. Perhaps he prayed for Lydia. and asked the Lord to bless the work of her hands. Maybe he prayed for the jailer that he might be strengthened in the faith. It says that he prayed for them all. He prayed for them collectively, and he prayed for them individually. But also notice that Paul remembered them with thanksgiving. When Paul remembered the Philippians, he offered thanksgiving to God. This would suggest that there was something good in them worthy of thanksgiving." And in our text, Paul is thankful for something very specific. He was thankful for their fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. This is really the subject of this book. Sharing in the gospel. And Paul was very thankful that the Philippian church was his co-worker in the gospel. But I lastly want you to see here this morning that Paul remembered them with confidence beginning in verse 6. It 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." Now, when Paul remembered the church there at Philippi, a certain confidence arose in him regarding the church there. He was very hopeful regarding them. And this confidence brought him a good deal of joy and comfort. Now, when Paul said here, he hath begun a good work in you, this could be understood in two different ways. I'm going to talk about them both, and both are ultimately true. It could mean that Paul meant he hath begun a good work among you. The original language would allow for that. That is, God has started a church there in Philippi, and He will continue to build a church there. Don't lose heart, little Philippian church, for if God has begun a church, He will build the church and finish the work. You know, if God really did send Paul into Macedonia, if He really did open Lydia's heart If he really did shake the prison with an earthquake, if he really did save the jailer and his household, if God really did raise up a church in Philippi, then Paul says, I have confidence that God will continue to uphold his church. He that has planted Christianity in the world will preserve Christianity in the world as long as there is a world. Jesus said the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. But it could have been that Paul meant exactly as it's translated in our version, he hath begun a work in you. Paul could be saying here that he has confidence in the work of grace inside each particular believer and that God will certainly accomplish his work of salvation in each one. Now, we're going to take note here of just four or five points and then we'll be ready to observe our Lord's table. I want you to see, first of all, that the work of grace in the heart of man is a good work. It seems obvious, doesn't it? That the work of grace in the heart of man is a good work. But it says here in our text, he which hath begun a good work. What a good work of what a good work grace is. It begins with a raw material that is not good. The Bible says there is none good. No, not one. It begins with a sinner in whom is not a spark of life or light. and grace does a very good work on a man. But secondly, notice that the work of grace in the heart of man is God's work. Salvation comes to a man by the work of God alone. It is not a cooperative work. Man does not do his part and God does his part, as many would tell you. Rather, God does the whole work of salvation. The Bible says we were dead and God made us alive. When we are gathered in heaven, we will look at one another and ask, how in the world did we get here? Why, we got here by sheer grace. God began a good work in us and he performed it to the end. But thirdly, notice that the work of grace is merely begun in this life. He that hath begun a good work in you." Grace will not complete the work here, but will only begin the work here. Now, we should strive to be perfect here, but we should not expect to be because God has only begun a good work in us. As long as we are in this imperfect state, there is something more to be done. And fourthly, notice here that it is God that finishes the work. He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Christ. It is God that finishes the work. The Bible teaches us in Ephesians 2.10 that we are his workmanship. We should not be overly discouraged by our lack of perfection in this life. Some people are very, very distressed when they look at their own imperfections. There is no sinless perfection here. We should be kind to ourselves and admit that we are weak and that God has only begun His work of grace in me. And in addition to that, we should be very gracious to each other, shouldn't we? And not expect perfection in our brothers and sisters. God has only begun a good work. It is not completed. But fifthly, let me suggest that we may have great confidence that our sanctification will one day be complete. God has begun the work and God will finish it. When God created the world, He didn't change His mind on day three, but He finished the work. When Jesus became a man, He didn't quit when the suffering became intense, but He finished the work. And when God began a good work in us, He intended to finish it, and He will perform it. And lastly, there is a day when the work will be completed. It says He will perform it until when? the day of Christ. That is the day when Christ appears and changes us and changes us from the corruptible to the incorruptible. On that day, Christ will restore us fully. He will take away the corruption. which we inherited in the fall. And He will raise us up incorruptible and He will finish the work which He has begun in this life. you