Amen. Well, let's take our Bibles together this morning, and let's go together to the book of Philippians, chapter number one, please, the first chapter in the book of Philippians. We began last Sunday morning a study on this particular book, and we'll continue that, obviously, as we go throughout the various Sunday mornings that the Lord allows us the opportunity, the strength, and the health to preach His word, and so we'll dive right back into that particular book and that particular chapter here this morning as we consider this study of the book of Philippians, and we're delighted that you're here and with us in the Lord's house on this Sunday morning. I was telling the folks that were here at 9.30 that I have a number of pastor friends that pastor in the South, and some of you perhaps have been following the weather and the news, and I'm sort of watching them as they squirm just a little bit. They're not used to snow and that type of thing, accumulation, and I'm sitting here thinking, well, look at us. It's sunny, and there's not any snow on the ground. Of course, it is 16 degrees outside this morning, but we can't have it all, I don't suppose. But we're glad that you're here and in the Lord's house. Obviously, we anticipate maybe some weather moving through here over the next day or so, but we're glad that we can gather and meet on Sunday morning unhindered as far as that is concerned. Philippians chapter number one, we'll read verse number six, which is a very familiar text for us, and we'll find the bulk of our message right here in this particular verse. And so if you look with me there, Philippians chapter one and verse number six, the Bible 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 today with the Lord's help, I'd like to preach to you a message I've entitled, The Work of God. the work of God. Father, we ask that you'd bless our time together in this service this morning. Lord, that you'd give us freedom to preach, Lord, without any distractions. Lord, I pray that God's people and the congregation that are here today would, Lord, would be focused and be plugged in on what is being taught and what is being preached from your Word. And, Lord, may we not Be bogged down with the affairs of this life, but may we spend the next few minutes, Lord, in purposeful and intentional study of Your Word. Help us, we pray, in this service. If there's someone here today that is lost, that does not know Jesus Christ as their own personal Savior, that is not certain that Lord Heaven is their home, Lord, may they be touched by the gospel and by the messages it's preached, and Lord, may they be saved today before the service comes to a conclusion. And if there's a Christian who's far away from the Lord, who's gone their own way and recognizes that, Lord, may what was found here in this text, may it inspire them to come back to the Lord, to draw nigh to Him, and knowing that the book of James says, you will draw nigh to us. Help us today, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. You know, in the sixth verse, Paul uses a very strong word to describe what he knew, what he knew about the work of God in an individual life. And of course, the word he uses is the word confident. It's the word confident. It can also be translated to convince. So what Paul is saying, Paul is saying that he was certain, that he was convinced, that he was absolutely sure or confident about some things that were related to the work of God in the life of his people. You know, there are various levels of confidence that we can have and that we can experience in life. I'm thinking to myself that our confidence oftentimes is based on academic knowledge, academic knowledge. In other words, we might say it this way, I read this in a book, therefore I know it or I believe it to be true. Therefore, your confidence is based on what you have read, what you have gathered, and of course, we understand that that's only as good as who you're reading after. It may be the person that you read, maybe they didn't put the work in that was necessary, or maybe they were being intentionally or purposefully misleading, or maybe it is that they're telling you the truth, but our confidence can be based on academic knowledge. Then there are some people who are confident based on their trust in another person. It doesn't sound like it sounded a minute ago, I read this, therefore I believe it to be true, but instead it goes like this, I heard this from someone that I trust, therefore it must be true. In other words, I had a conversation with someone and they told me this. And that, of course, is only as good as the person that you heard it from and where they got that information from. And you can understand that this can be a slippery slope here if we're spouting out facts and we're talking about things just simply based on maybe what we read, if it's not a great source, or maybe who we heard it from. And then there's another basis for which we get our confidence, and that is that my confidence is based on personal experience. My confidence is based on personal experience. This goes like this, I've lived this in my own life, therefore I know it to be true. I remember as a young man hearing people talk about things that I had not yet experienced, that I had not lived in my own life. I remember them talking about how getting old was no fun. My grandpa, he used to have a clever little statement. He'd say, getting old is not for sissies. That was his line. He'd say that all the time, and he was speaking that from experience. Well, I don't consider myself old, but I'm heading in that direction, and I can speak to the validity of what he says, because I've now experienced, I used to look at him and think, ah, you know, just get tough, you know, and you know, what's wrong with you? You know, it's not that bad, but now as I get older, I can understand, you know, the body just doesn't work the way that it once did. and there are things that start to slip, and abilities that maybe at one time you had that you no longer have, maybe your memory starts to go, and that sort of thing. So we can have confidence based on our personal experience. In other words, I heard people talk about this for years, but now I'm starting to live it and I understand, okay, what they were saying was true, therefore I now accept it and I now believe it. Can I say this? I believe that the, The great thing about the Christian life is that it combines all three of these elements. And as a result, listen, it gives us a supreme or a superior confidence that what we believe is true and it is right. Let me try to illustrate that for you. Number one, we would say as a believer in Christ that our confidence is based on what we have read in this book, God's Word. Now again, you could talk about, well, I read this in a book somewhere, therefore it must be true. But you have to understand, every book that you and I pick up off the shelf has a human author. Therefore, it is indeed possible that they might make a mistake. I don't know if I'm the only person in this room like this, but I am really good at finding the mistakes of others. Like I am super skilled in that regard. And I'm talking about the mistakes of others. I mean, if I'm reading an email, the punctualization there is not right, or the spelling isn't right here. I mean, the English language can be really, really complicated. I'm really good at finding the mistakes of others. I'm not real good at finding my own mistakes. I don't know why that is. The things that I type up, the emails that I type up, or the papers that I write for different things, whatever it may be, and I turn it over to someone, and I'm expecting it's gonna come back with hardly any red marks. And then it comes back, and it's filled with red, and I almost get mad at the person who's proofreading it, you know. Are you serious? There are really this many errors? That can't be. And then as I read it closer and closer, yeah, I misspelled this. And I didn't put the right comma there. I should have put a semicolon, whatever the case might be. And so understand this. Listen, every book that you pick up to read is the work of a man. Therefore, therefore, it's susceptible to his biases. It potentially is filled with errors. Maybe he wasn't trying to make errors, but they happen nonetheless because he's a human being just like you are, just like I am. But can I tell you something? When you pick up this book, it's different. This book, there's no errors. There's no biases because God is truth and his word is truth. Therefore, listen, if my beliefs are based on what I find in this book, I can be supremely confident that what I believe is true, not because I believe it, but because of what I've read. because I've discovered it in this book. But notice, not only do we have a confidence as believers based on what we've read in God's word, but we also have a confidence based on what we have been taught by faithful men and faithful women. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 2, the things that thou hast heard of me, among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. That's really the pattern through which faith passes from one generation to the next. Somebody reads and they come to faith in Christ, and then they turn around and they say, you know, I'm so taken by what I've been taught and what God has showed me, I have to share it with you, and they share it with them, and that person, by faith, comes into a relationship with Jesus Christ, and then they turn around and they pass it to their children who pass it to their children, and from one generation to the next, the faith is passed on. Can I say the Bible says in 2 Timothy 3 and verse number 14, Paul's writing to Timothy there and he says, Timothy says, I want you to continue in what you've learned and here's why, because you know the person who has taught you these things. You have confidence in the man or in the woman who has mentored you spiritually and has brought you along in this faith. In other words, it doesn't mean that they're without error, that they don't make mistakes, but you've seen that the faith is real in their life, that they live what they preach and what they teach. Of course, that becomes so very important for anyone, anyone who is going to stand in a position of spiritual authority, whether it's in the home as a mom or a dad, or whether it's in a Sunday school class, or on a bus route, or standing behind this pulpit, and they're gonna stand, they're gonna teach someone the word of God. Listen, listen, unless the person sitting there and listening, unless they can have confidence in the person that's teaching them, there's going to be a struggle there. Paul says you need to continue in these things and here's why. Because you know, you know who it is that's teaching you. You've examined their life, you've seen that these things are real and that they're true. Then I would say thirdly that there's a confidence that we have as Christians that's based on our own personal experience. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 3, 17, that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. Ephesians 2 and verse number 10, the Bible says, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. You know, the Christian life should be a progressive life. In other words, I should be coming more and more like Jesus Christ. I should be doing more and more good works. I should be doing less and less of the things that I used to do. Some of you, that's your testimony. Some of you, when you have opportunity to speak to me or speak to others, you're constantly talking about the fact that, you know, it's almost hard for me to believe that I'm in church every Sunday, because that's not the way that I was raised. It's almost hard for me to believe that my tongue now is clean because it used to be filthy and profanity-laced, and yet I don't find myself saying those things anymore. And it's amazing, the things that I have an interest in today are things that I would have never thought that I would have been interested in whatsoever in a prior way. You know what that is? That is a confidence that is based on personal experience. In other words, you have seen, you have had a front row seat to watch as Christ, the power of Christ, and the power of the gospel has transformed your life. The things I used to say, I don't say them anymore. Song that sometimes is sung around here among children. The things I used to do, I don't do them anymore. The places I used to go, I don't go there anymore. Why? Because there has been a great change in my heart since I've been born again. I love the hymn, He Lives. And I love that one line where it says, you ask me how I know he lives? How do I know that? And here's the answer. He lives within my heart. You know what that is? That's personal experience. So here's the great thing about the Christian faith, is the Christian faith is based, our confidence, it is based on what we've read in God's word, knowing, knowing that these are the holy scriptures that come directly from God and that all scripture is given by inspiration of God. My confidence is based on what godly men and faithful men and women have taught me over the years. And then my confidence in God and in his word and in the Christian faith is based on my own personal experience. I have discovered these things and these truths and these principles to be real and to be true in my own life. Now Paul here has a confidence in what the Lord was doing in the lives of the Philippian believers. He was certain that God was at work in their lives. He was confident about this. And he wanted to pass this confidence on to this church so they would not lose sight of this, that they would not get discouraged in the day-to-day aspects of living You know, living life can be challenging sometimes. I mean, just one day after another. Sometimes it's just the same thing week after week after week. And sometimes we don't even see the progress and the growth that is happening in our lives. And so Paul takes his pen in hand and he says this. He says, I want you to know I am confident that God is at work in your life and that God is doing some very, very special things in your life. You know, here's the question. Do you believe, do you believe that God is working in your life? Do you believe that? Let me ask you this question. Do you see evidence of God working in your life? Can you point to certain things? Do you know, yes, this is exactly what God is doing. God is teaching us some things. God is showing us some things. God is removing some things. He is maybe removing some things that don't belong in our lives. He's chipping those things out. God is introducing some things into our lives that weren't there before but that need to be there so that we can be more godly and so that we can be more like his son, Jesus Christ. Can you see his divine and providential hand at work in your life? Can I say the simple fact that you're here today is evidence of God's consistent and faithful working in your life? I mean, you're in church on Sunday morning when it's 16 degrees outside. You know, don't make light of that. Don't lose sight of the fact that, you know, you're here. I know the struggle is real on Sunday mornings, isn't it? I know it is real for you because it's real for the preacher. Sometimes I don't wanna get out of bed either. I don't wanna get up all day, and yet I better be here. If I'm not here, we're gonna be in some trouble, right? I guess somebody around here can preach, and that sort of thing. But you get the idea, right, that just the simple fact that you're in God's house on a Sunday morning is evidence, is evidence of God's working in your life. I don't know about you, but when I think of what God has done to bring me to where I am today, Wherever you may discern that to be in my life, I just want you to know something, I'm overwhelmed with gratitude. And I look back over the last, I don't know, 31 years or so since I've been saved, and I almost look back at certain things that I would do before or certain attitudes or mindsets that I had, I'm almost humiliated that I would have thought those things. that I would have done those things. And yet, here's what God was doing. He was consistently and faithfully just working with me, being patient with me, at work in my life. I want to point out some truths that I find in this text, in this sixth verse specifically, about the work of God in a life. Let me share them with you. Number one, let me say this. The work of God in a life, in every life, has a beginning. The work of God in a life has a beginning. I mean, we find that in this verse, don't we? The Bible says, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you. He which hath begun. I truly believe that God is at work, number one, that God is at work in every life from the very beginning. I believe that. I could share Jeremiah chapter number one with you. The Lord God comes to Jeremiah in that very first chapter. We find his calling. You know what God told Jeremiah? He says, In other words, you know what God was saying? God was saying, Jeremiah, before you even thought of in the mind of your parents, in the mind of your family, before they even realized that you were to be born, and before they ever met you for the first time, the day that you were born, before any of those things came true, I had a plan for your life. I had a purpose in your life, and I was at work in all of the circumstances. I was bringing you to the point where you could be the prophet that I called you to be. Now think about that for a moment. If that's true about Jeremiah, don't you suppose that maybe that's true about you as well? Maybe that's true about your children as well? that before you were ever thought of, God knew you were going to be, and that God had a plan for you. It may not be to be a prophet to the nations. You may never stand behind a pulpit and preach to a congregation, or you may never hold an elected office and sit in a prestigious position politically. You may never live in a, in a certain neighborhood or whatever the case might be, but listen, don't lose sight of this. God, God has a plan and a purpose for your life. And God, here's what I'd say, God is at work in your life from the very beginning of your life. God is doing some things. The Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 2 in verse number 13, Paul is writing, he says, but we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. You know what I believe? I believe the Bible teaches that God is not willing that any should perish. I believe that God has, from the beginning, chosen, listen, He has chosen every man and every woman to salvation. I believe that. I believe that's why Christ came. I believe that Jesus Christ suffered and He bled and died, not just for the sins of those who are sitting in this room, but for the sins of every person who lives on Tiedemann Road. The blood of Jesus Christ was sufficient to wash away every sin. For every, not just every person living in the United States of America, we've commonly thought of ourselves as a Christian nation, I think we're moving further and further away from those things, but we've commonly thought of ourselves in that way. But can I tell you that there are countries where the name of Jesus is barely known, and yet Jesus Christ died for their sins as well. That God has chosen them, everyone, to salvation from the beginning. Now here's the question, does this mean everyone is to be saved? That everyone will be saved? Sadly, the answer to that is no. There will be many, many people who will hear the gospel and who will reject it. And sadly, there will be many more who will never even get an opportunity to hear it a single time. And yet, they'll have to suffer because of their sin. The answer, of course, is that not everyone will be saved. But here's what I want you to know. From the beginning of life, understand this. God is at work trying to convince an individual of his great love for them. It's interesting, by the way, Sam read from Psalm 19 this morning. In Psalm 19, we discover what is known as general revelation. The heavens do declare the glory of God, don't they? And the firmament does show His handiwork, and day in the day utter His speech, night and night show it knowledge. It's just telling us that there's order, there's design, that there's a power out there that's greater than us that put all of this in motion, that started all of this. Many people, that's all they'll ever know about God is general revelation. Sadly, general revelation does not communicate that God had a son and his name was Jesus. General revelation doesn't tell us that that son came to earth and that he died on an old rugged cross and that he was buried and he rose again the third day. You won't find that by looking into the heavens and seeing the beautiful sun as it rises in the east and sets in the west. You won't find that as you watch the snow flutter softly to the ground. You won't learn those truths from there. Therefore, God also gives us what is known as special revelation. It's the Word of God, the Bible. And then God gives people the ability to read this book and to study it and then to share it boldly so that, listen, if people are going to be saved, it is going to require men and women, boys and girls, teenagers, young and old, everyone who believes this book to go out and to impact their world and to tell people, hey, listen, there is a Savior who died for your sins. His name is Jesus. God is at work in the lives of people to bring people to that point. Notice Paul says to the Thessalonians regarding God's work from the beginning, he says, whereunto he called you by our gospel. Paul is saying, listen, because I was faithful and consistent to teach and to preach you these things, God used me, God used me to bring you Thessalonian believers out of darkness and into the light. So that got me to thinking, how does God work in a life to draw men and women to himself? I believe he primarily uses three things. I think number one, he uses circumstances. Circumstances. This is gonna sound strange when I say it, and I don't mean it disrespectfully, I don't mean it odd, but people have asked me, what are some parts of your job that you enjoy? And the truth of the matter is I enjoy most of what I do, but one of the things that I enjoy the most is preaching funerals. And you look at me and you'd say, that is the craziest thing I've ever heard in my life. I do not enjoy going to funeral homes. I hate death, I hate that sort of thing. But why I love preaching funerals is because funerals, people come into them and their hearts are open. Their hearts are open. The circumstances surrounding the passing of their friend, their coworker, their loved one, Man, they're sitting here and their eyes are wide open and they're saying, hold on a minute, hold on a minute, it's gonna be me someday. I'm gonna die someday, where am I going? What's gonna happen to me? And I just gotta tell you, I know people who've been saved, who've been gloriously saved as a result of a funeral service. God used the death of a loved one, the death of someone that they loved, someone that they cared about, someone that they were concerned about, God used the circumstances of that individual's passing to open up their heart so that they would be safe. I just gotta tell you, God uses circumstances. Sometimes it's the loss of a job. Sometimes it's a separation in a relationship. Sometimes it's some other, you know, the diagnosis of a disease, but I'm just here to tell you, God uses circumstances in the lives of people. Paul wrote this in the book of Philippians, chapter one, you're there already, look in verse number 12. Look what he said, he said, he said, but I would, ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel. You know what Paul's saying? He's saying the circumstances that I find myself in, he said God's used these things and the gospel's been proclaimed in more places than it would have been had these things not happened. So he's saying don't feel sorry for me. Don't mourn and whine for me. He says, I'm not maybe thrilled to be here, but I will tell you, I can see that God has used these circumstances to do some incredible things in my life, but also in the lives of others. So I would say he used circumstances, but number two, can I say this? He uses people. He uses people. I'm talking about his work to bring people to himself, this work that happens in the beginning. He uses people. Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 2.14, wherein to he called you by our gospel. Paul's not saying I made this message up, or I came up with this, I invented this. No, what he's saying, he says by our gospel, he's saying this, he's saying the gospel that I preach. Therefore, Paul is writing to the church at Thessalonica, and he says, listen, had I never come to your town, you'd still be lost in your sins. Paul is not the agent of salvation, but he is the mouthpiece. He's the messenger through which the message of salvation is given. And can I say that none of us in this room are the agent of salvation. I can't save a single soul. The Cleveland Baptist Church isn't the agent of salvation. Cleveland Baptist Church can't save you. the water behind us, the baptistry water there, it can't save a single soul. But listen, God uses people who make up the Cleveland Baptist Church, the family of the Cleveland Baptist Church, to go out into their community and to impact people, whether it's in your neighborhood or in your workplace or in the grocery store down the street or wherever it is that you shop and do your business, God wants to use people to draw, listen, men and women, Let me ask you this question. Have you been giving faithfully the gospel to people? Just as Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica, hey, listen, you have what you have today because my gospel was preached to you. Can people say that about you? And I'm sitting in a Bible-believing church today because this person was faithful to proclaim the truth of the gospel to me. God uses circumstances, He uses people. But number three, I believe He uses His Word. He uses His Word. 2 Timothy 3.15, the Bible says, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. You know, John 3, 16, I don't ever remember memorizing that verse. I mean, specifically to him. I feel like I was born knowing that verse. I know that that's not the case. I had to have learned it at some point, probably taught that verse either in a Sunday school class or maybe by my parents who were godly people. But I'm thinking to myself, you know, that verse has been in my mind as long as I can remember. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten. I mean, that's the gospel all in one verse. Tells me that I'm a sinner. Tells me God loves me. Tells me Christ came and he died on the cross for my sin. And it tells me if I'll believe in him, I can be saved. You know what God does? God uses his word. You know, don't get discouraged. Don't get discouraged when you share the gospel with someone and they don't receive it at that moment. Because listen, the word of God is like seed that is planted. And it just continues to work. And people continue to think about the message that was preached and the words that were said. And I'm just telling you, God's word is powerful. God uses his word. And I'm just saying from the very beginning, God is at work in the lives of people using circumstances, using others, and using his word to bring them to himself. But can I say secondly, number two, that the work of God, it rises to a new level by faith. Paul here, he writes, and he says, he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it on the day of Jesus Christ. I personally believe that Paul is referencing the new birth when he says he which hath begun. That's not to say that God was not at work in the lives of the Philippian saints prior to their coming to know Christ. I believe that he was, I have no doubt about that. But I believe he's saying specifically the moment that you got saved, the day that you got saved, God began to do an incredible work in your heart and in your life. And God will be faithful to perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. If you're here today and you're lost and you don't know Jesus Christ as your Savior, that's the work that God so desperately wants to do in every life. Jesus Christ died, he suffered, he bled, he died, he was buried, and he rose again so that men and women could be saved. So that what he did for them, his death on the cross. See, Jesus was not a sinner. You and I are sinners the way he sinned his death. Jesus, he never sinned one time. The Bible's clear about that. Therefore, it's abundantly clear as we study the scriptures that Christ's death was not to pay for his own sins. Christ's death was not to pay for his own crimes. No, no, Christ's death was to pay for my sins and for my crimes. And the Bible says that if I'll just believe in him, I can be saved. It's as simple as that. And that is the work of God. And I want you to know that it rises to a new level by faith now. Now all of a sudden, God and I are not enemies with one another. We're not at odds with one another. We're on the same team. I'm now in his family. And as a result, God can do a great work in my life. But notice, secondly, we see not only does the work of God in a life have a beginning, but number two, I would say this, the work of God in a life, it's pretty clear from this text, is a good work. The work of God in a life is good. The Bible says, being confident in this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you. It's a good work. So what's good about the work that God is doing? Well, number one, I would say this, the work of salvation is a good work. Think about what God does. He saves an eternal soul from eternal suffering, and he gives them eternal life. I don't know about you, but I would say that's a grand work, isn't it? That's a beautiful work, a wonderful work. It boggles my mind. that people will reject the gospel of Jesus Christ. That people would reject what God wants to do in their heart and in their life. That they would say no. Sometimes it's because they love their sin too much. Sometimes it's because they have some questions and when they get the answer to those questions, they'll readily accept the Lord Jesus Christ. Sometimes it's just people that are indifferent. They don't believe that there's a God. They don't believe that there's a heaven or that there's a hell. But I want you to know something. Whether or not somebody believes or not does not change the truth that is found in God's Word. That these things are true. These places are real. And that Jesus calls to us to be saved. His death calls to us to be saved. His burial, His resurrection tells us, hey, listen, there's something real about this thing. No one's ever done what He's done. The work of salvation is a good work. In fact, it's such a great work. It's such a great work that sometimes even Jesus calls men away from their life's occupation to give them a new and a better calling. The Bible tells us in Mark chapter 1 that early in Jesus' ministry, he spent a lot of time there in the northern region of the nation of Israel. Of course, he was born in Nazareth. It wasn't long before he kind of made a transition and his headquarters was sort of a city called Capernaum. It sits right on the northern border of the Sea of Galilee. And of course, you know that in that day and age, there were a lot of men that their occupation was to be fishermen. They would go out at night, and they'd cast their nets into the water, and they'd bring in fish, and they'd clean them, and clean their nets, and then they'd go and sell them in the market, and get a little bit of sleep, and they'd go out and do it all over again the next night. One day early in Jesus's ministry, he happened upon two sets of brothers, same chapter, Mark chapter number one. Seems like they were within reasonable proximity, probably even knew one another. Their names were Peter and Andrew and James and John. The Bible says that Jesus came to them and he said, come ye after me and I will make you to become fishers of men. Straightway they forsook their nets and followed him. Now think about that, the work that Christ had come to do, proclaiming the truth of the gospel, telling people about salvation. For these men and their lives, that was the greatest work they could have done. God doesn't do that for everyone. God doesn't call everyone to leave their place of employment, but he's called me. You know, he called me to leave whatever it was that I might have ended up doing had I pursued my own path, gone to maybe a liberal arts college or a trade school or learned some type of a vocation or occupation, and God said, listen, maybe you could do those things. Sometimes I wonder whether I could have or not, but maybe you can do those things, but here's what I've got for you. I've called you to proclaim the truth of the gospel, and I just want you to know something. God is still in the business of calling men to do that. He is. He's still in the business of calling teenage young men to do that. little boys and little girls, God's calling them to take the gospel to a mission field somewhere where people have never heard of it. This is a great work, the work of God in the realm of salvation. But can I say, not only the work of salvation is a good work, but the work of sanctification is a good work as well. The work of sanctification. We see glimpses of this in our text. The work of sanctification really is when God takes a sinner and transforms him into a saint. That's really what it is. And can I just tell you that is a good work. When you got a guy who used to cheat and steal and he doesn't cheat and steal anymore, that's a good thing, isn't it? When you've got a guy that at one time was violent and reactionary and was filled with a hot temper and you just never knew when he was gonna fly off the handle and if you were in reasonable proximity how you might be affected by that, when all of a sudden that guy's got control of himself and he's got control of his emotions, that's a good work, isn't it? When you've got a guy that's been a liar his whole life, can't tell the truth and is deceitful and dishonest, God gets a hold of him and now all of a sudden he's telling the truth everywhere he goes. He has a hard time even telling a lie. That is a good work. When you've got a man who at one time was an alcoholic and a drunkard and he'd come home and he'd beat his wife and he'd threaten his children and everyone would cower and hide in fear. and he meets Jesus Christ, and he sobers up, and no longer goes to the bar, and he no longer spends all of his money on that type of thing. And when he comes home, there's a smile on his face, and his wife is eager to greet him, and his children throw their arms around his neck and welcome daddy home. That is a good work, and that's the work of sanctification. Notice that Paul gives a glimpse of this in the following verses. In verse number nine and 10, he talks about the love of those who are sanctified. Look what he says in verse number nine. He says, in this I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all judgment, that ye may approve things that are excellent. Paul writes about the sanctified individual that their love is abounding more and more in knowledge and discretion. In other words, those who are sanctified or who are being sanctified, they now have a love for things that are worth loving. You know, not everything in this world and in this life is worth loving. Now, the Bible tells us, doesn't it, that the love of money is the root of all evil. And some people get caught up in that and they look at that and they just, well, I guess everybody that's rich is an evil person. That's not what that verse says, is it? What that verse says is that the love of money is the root of all evil. It's possible to have some things, and to have some nice things, and not to love those things, but to understand that they're tools, they're resources that I use, you know, to get me where I need to go, or that I, you know, that's the house that I live in, and it's a nice place, but I don't love it. If the Lord asked me to give it up tomorrow for Him, you know, to go live somewhere else where I could, you know, I'd be willing to do it. That's the difference, right? Not everything in this life is worth loving. You know what I found? As a young man, I was in Bible college, and I was looking through a classified section in a newspaper. You teenagers see me afterwards, and I'll tell you a little bit more about those things and what that used to look like. But I was at college. I was trying to find a job, and so I went to the newspaper, and I'm flipping through it, and I found that there was an automobile dealership that was hiring. And the automobile dealership was a BMW dealership. And I called them and I introduced myself and they said, well, come on out for an interview. And I went and come to find out the owner of the business and his general manager were from Cleveland, Ohio. And when they found out I was from Cleveland, Ohio, I think that, you know, I found a soft spot in their heart, you know? And so they hired me. and I began to work at a BMW dealership, and one of my responsibilities, I had a lot of things that I was doing, but one of my responsibilities was on Saturday, because Saturday's a big day in the automobile dealership industry, and I had to go, and I had to go pick up lunch for the guys. I was really good at getting lunch, you know, that was one of my specialties, and so that became my niche. And then they told me this, they said, hey listen, you've been doing a pretty good job, we trust you, and so when you go to get lunch, if you want to take any BMW on the lot, you can take it with you to get lunch. So I started looking for restaurants that were further and further away so that I could drive the car a little bit more. The car at one time was known as the ultimate driving machine, and I got into that car and I turned that thing on. At that time I was driving a 1985 Volkswagen GTI, and it had a hatchback. There were two different colors. It was rusting some. It was a nice car. It got me where I needed to go, but it was in no way, shape, or form comparable to a brand new BMW. Man, I got in that thing and I drive and I thought, this is the life. This is wonderful. And I sort of fell in love with that car. But you know what, that was a 1998, 99 in that ballpark. You know the cars that I was driving back in those days to go pick up those lunches today, they're probably in a scrap heap somewhere. They're probably in a junkyard. Maybe they could still be driven, but they've, listen, they're probably in the same place my 1985 Volkswagen GTI is. I'm just simply saying, listen, sometimes we can be guilty of loving things that really aren't worth loving. And a sanctified individual, the Bible says that they're growing and they're developing in their love so that they can approve things that are excellent. They can, listen, what it is, they can love things that God loves. And they can look at things that are of temporal value and say, yeah, there's value there, but it's not something I'm gonna get caught up in. It's not something I'm gonna love, that I'm gonna live for. Instead, I'm gonna live my life for things that are of eternal value. That's what a sanctified individual does. The love of a sanctified individual. But notice secondly, we see the sincerity of those who are sanctified. Look in verse number 10. It says that you may prove things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ. The term sincere and without offense are connected. And here's what they mean. They mean pure, pure. So that a sanctified individual, not only does he love what God loves, but a sanctified individual is growing in purity. Maybe the things that he used to laugh at, he doesn't laugh at those things anymore. Because those things maybe are double meaning and maybe they're perverted and they're filthy and they're profane. He, again, as we said a moment ago, he's now telling the truth, he's being honest, because he's got a purity about himself. God's given him that. Sincere and he's without offense. Boy, you gotta live your life in such a way that you're sensitive to offenses, not the offenses that others might bring upon you, but you're sensitive to the offenses that you might bring upon other people through your words, through your actions, through your attitude. Can I say that before our lives, before our conversion, our lives were characterized by filthiness and offensive behavior? But Christ's work, listen, it's a good work. Because it transforms us into a pure, a genuine man or woman who is careful not to offend. Number three, we see the fruit of those who are sanctified. Look in verse number 11. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ and of the glory and praise of God. Paul writes in verse number 11, that because of this good work that God had done in the lives of the Philippians, they were filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ. He's careful, isn't he, to acknowledge that these fruits are not man-made, but they're supernaturally supplied to us through Jesus Christ. Did you see that? These are not something that you can come up with. These are not something that you can manufacture, that you can grow on your own. I personally believe Paul is referring to that which he wrote to the Galatians about, the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, faith, and temperance. Can I just tell you the work of God? It has a beginning. Can I also tell you this? It's a good work. For someone to be saved, oh, I'd love to see someone saved today. What a great work that is. It's a beautiful thing. But listen, sanctification's a beautiful thing as well. Someone becoming more and more like their savior, Jesus Christ. Finally, number three, can I say this? The work of God in a life is continual. He says at the end of the verse, he says, we'll perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. When I was a boy, I was taught a song, and it said, he's still working on me. to make me what I ought to be. It took him just a week to make the moon and the stars, the sun and the earth, and Jupiter and Mars. How loving and patient he must be, he's still working on me. I'm pretty sure, I'm pretty sure my kindergarten class sang that at our kindergarten graduation on this very platform. I was in kindergarten, five years old, all those years ago, I still remember it. And can I tell you that that song is still true today. I know it's sort of a children's song, we probably wouldn't sing it in here necessarily, although it'd be a good thing maybe to do it. But I'm just simply saying, listen, that song is still true in my life. I sang that 37 years ago. That's a long time, isn't it? I still remember it, and God is still at work in my life. You know what this truth tells me? It tells me this. It tells me that God never gives up on people. Let that sink in for just a minute. Some of you, you may have come into church this morning, and you may be feeling pretty lousy about yourself, where you are spiritually, You may think to yourself even, because the devil's really good at whispering accusations in our mind, you may even think to yourself, you know, God can't possibly love me because of what I've done. God has abandoned me. I've gone too far in this way or in that way. I just want you to know something. According to Philippians 1.6, God never gives up on anybody. He will, listen, the work that he began in your life, he will be faithful to perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. What's the day of Jesus Christ? It's the day that every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus is glorified and magnified in front of every human being who's ever lived. That's the day of Jesus Christ. It's the day of his exaltation. Now here's what Paul's writing, he says, God began that work in you the day that you got saved, and he will be faithful to perform it. The work of God in a life is continual. I'm quick oftentimes to give up on people. What's the adage we use? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. You know what the premise behind that is? You offend me twice and I'm done with you. I'm done with you. Shame on me for even giving you a second chance. But do you know what the Bible teaches? The Bible teaches forgive people 490 times. The Bible says, well, hold on a minute, let's look at God. Let's look at God who never gives up on people, who is constantly working and drawing men and women to himself. I don't know about you, but that's encouraging. because I make mistakes sometimes. I do some things that I ought not to do. I say some things I shouldn't say. I lose control of myself, and as a result of that, sometimes I offend. Sometimes I don't really look all that much like a Christian, much less like a preacher. But here's the thing, God began a work in my life all those years ago, and that work is continual according to the Bible. Therefore, I am certain, I am confident He's not going to give up on me and He's not going to give up on you either. Our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed.