It is a great pleasure to be with you here this morning. I'm very appreciative of the invitation to come and worship with you and open God's word and preach God's word this morning. I want to bring greetings from the brothers and sisters, the saints in the Russell congregation. We do pray through congregations and you're included in that and now I know even more of me just being here and coming back and And speaking about my experience will only increase that fellowship that we have in the gospel with you. If you have a Bible there, I'd ask that you'd open with me to Paul's letter to the Philippians. Philippians chapter 1. Page 980 in this version of the Pew Bible. I'm not sure if it's the same for all of them. Philippians chapter 1, and I'm going to be reading verses 1 through 11. And again, I'm just going to pause and pray and ask for God's blessing and help. Our Father in heaven, You are the God who has spoken in the past through the prophets in these last days in Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no voice like Your voice. You spoke into nothing and created all things in six days and all very good. When Jesus was on the earth, He spoke into a tomb and a dead man was raised to life. And we know that your Holy Spirit has given us your word written down for us. And we're so thankful for the Bible. And we pray that your spirit, the one who caused this word to be written, would open our ears to it this morning. We pray that in the name of the Good Shepherd who knows His sheep by name, knows our hearts, knows our lives, knows our circumstances, knows everything. Our sympathetic Savior who speaks to His sheep and His sheep know His voice. They recognize it and they follow Him. We pray that by the ministry of the Word this morning that we would be led into green pastures and beside quiet waters and that You would restore our soul. For Your glory, for our good, for the building up of the church in the world, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Philippians chapter 1, beginning at verse 1, this is the inerrant and infallible Word of God. Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi with the overseers and deacons, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you, for you all, making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace. both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment so that you may approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. We'll end our reading of God's Word there. May He bless it to us this morning. Our theme this morning is the theme of Christian confidence. And our text is Philippians 1, verse 6 in particular. The English Standard Version translates, I am sure of this. The New International Version and other English versions, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Christian confidence. The Apostle Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians. When you think of the Apostle Paul, Do you think of a very confident person? I think many people think of Paul as some kind of spiritual superhero. He was mature in the faith, but he himself wrote in 1 Corinthians 2, 3, I came in weakness, fear, and much trembling. And yet here he writes about a confidence that he possessed. What did Paul mean when he mentions his confidence? And as you hear that word, are you a confident person? Would you characterize yourself that way? A confident person. And we hear a lot these days about hacks. some way to gain advantage in order to succeed, and that word is used in all kinds of different contexts. There are game hacks, shopping hacks, marriage hacks. I was interested to read an article on the website Lifehacker, a hack for life, and the article began with this statement, have confidence. is one of the most essential pieces of advice you'll receive in life. The writers of the article are confident that what you need in life most is confidence. But what can you be confident about in your life? Is our confidence as Christians just the same as the world's confidence? Is it the confidence, the theology of the sound of music when Julie Andrews sings, I have confidence in confidence alone, besides which you see I have confidence in me? Or do we listen to a Canadian counseling therapist, Glynis Sherwood, who has written about what she calls a sudden loss of confidence syndrome. She explains that, quote, a crisis of confidence means you have stopped believing in yourself. We have a friend in Ottawa who's a very accomplished violinist. She has played for the National Orchestra in Canada. But one day, and I don't think she knows exactly why, she says, I lost my nerve. Her confidence. I don't think she's played in public since. Self-confidence. The world would say, you've just lost your self-confidence. It's the way the world thinks and speaks. Believing in yourself seems to be a given today. It's offered as a self-evident encouragement. You have a problem? You just need more self-confidence. Just believe in yourself more. Not really that long ago, G.K. Chesterton, 1908, said, the men who really believe in themselves are all in lunatic asylums. Beloved, the Bible addresses the issue of confidence. But in the Bible, God exposes false confidence and explains Christian confidence. Because there is a real confidence to be enjoyed by believers. But the Bible proclaims a very different foundation for true confidence. Psalm 71, verse 5, for you have been my hope, sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth. Or Jeremiah 17, 7, but blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. That's the kind of confidence the Apostle Paul had. You know, if you look at 2 Corinthians, if you have your Bibles open, why don't you just flip back to 2 Corinthians chapter 3 verses 4 and 5, and these verses flow really from the question that Paul asked in chapter 2 verse 16, who is equal to such a task? which is a question related to the ministry, but also to the Christian life. Who is sufficient? Who is equal to such a task? And then he says in chapter three, verse four, such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. That genuine Christian confidence is what we see here, especially in Philippians 1, verse 6. The letter begins with thanks, gratitude. Paul was thankful for the fellowship and the partnership in the gospel of the saints here in Philippi. And he had a confidence concerning them. He was sure about something concerning them. But do you think Paul was naive? You think he was blindly optimistic? Didn't he know about disappointments in the church? Had he never experienced discouragements with the people of God? Had he not been in the church long enough to see how Christians suffer, how much pain fills people's lives? How can he be so confident? Well, Paul's gratitude and joy were not misplaced when he thinks of this particular congregation of the Church of Christ and the Christians in it, because Paul's thanks are to God and because of God. Paul can say, I'm thankful, I rejoice. How? Why? Well, he gives the answer, being confident. Literally, the Greek is being persuaded, which reminds us that true confidence is related to truth, the truth of God revealed in Scripture, being confident of this, he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Paul's hope and confidence were not in the Philippians themselves, not in himself, but in God. God begins the good work in His people and He sees it through. Psalm 146. We know we should not put our trust even in princes, in mortal men who cannot say but only in the triune God. We're going to look carefully here at verse 6. as Paul gives the reason for his Christian confidence. And we're going to dissect this verse. I heard someone speaking about a dissection that some young people attended recently and how someone passed out, I'm told, during the dissection. I hope no one passes out during this dissection, but you can learn a lot through a dissection. as you really pull things apart and analyze them and meditate on and study it, and we're going to dissect verse six here. Christian confidence is confidence in three things from Philippians 1, verse six. It is confidence in the grace of God, and then secondly, in the nature of God, and thirdly, in the plan of God. Now how do we see this outline from this one verse? First, confidence in the grace of God. Listen again. Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you. He who began a good work in you. Before we get to the promise of the completion of our salvation, it's so helpful to think a lot about the beginning of it. God, Paul says, began the good work in his people. But who were they when he began that work? Well, Paul again wrote to the Corinthians that in their case, there were not many wise or influential or noble. But the reality for every Christian is even more humbling. Paul in Romans proclaimed that while we were still sinners, even enemies of God, Christ died for us. I mentioned it at the men's conference yesterday, but an older saint once taught my children the gospel on five fingers. Boys and girls, you can hold up your hand. Romans 5, 6, Christ died for thee. Men at the conference, ungodly. Christ died for the ungodly, sinners, enemies. Pure grace, beloved, stands at the beginning of salvation in every Christian life. We were once dead in sin, like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ. Yes, we repent, we believe, we exercise faith in Christ. But Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, that I'm sure many of you know, if not have it memorized, for it is by grace that you are saved through faith. It's not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works. so that no one can boast, pure, undeserved favor and grace. There was nothing in us, nothing in you, nothing in me for God to see but sin, yet he began a good work in us. That is so humbling. It magnifies the grace of God. but it is also so encouraging. Grace is encouraging because it has seen you at your worst and still God began the good work. Don't the people who have seen you at your worst and still love you really love you? God saw you utterly helpless and still he began the good work. the grace of God. The Dutch theologian Gerardus Vos once said something that sounds strange when you first hear it, but it is marvelously true in this regard. He said, the best proof that God will never cease to love us lies in that he never began. Jeremiah 31.3, he has loved you with an everlasting love. The love and grace of God for his people are from eternity. So if God's grace met you right there at the very beginning, there is no reason ever to believe his grace won't see you through. Romans 5.10, for if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, how much more having been reconciled shall we be saved by his life? It was grace that taught my heart to fear. and grace will lead me home." You can be confident with Paul in the saving grace of God. Secondly, Paul had confidence in the nature of God, and by nature, I mean his being and his character. Where do we see this? Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion. He who began the good work will complete it. God will do what he says he will do. He is sovereign, powerful, faithful, and true. All his holy being and character back up his promises. And we need to see that nothing less than the character and reputation of God himself is at stake here. We often don't finish what we start. I should maybe just speak for myself. I often don't. Finish what I start. We lose interest, time, resources, ability. Are any of those limitations for God? And we are His work, His workmanship, Ephesians 2.10. Now, O Lord, You are our Father, we are the clay, and You are our potter, and we are the work of Your hand. And God is able and will complete the works of His hands. John 10, 27, Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice, I know them, they follow me, and I give them eternal life, they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. The nature of God, He will carry it on to completion. His power, His sovereignty, His faithfulness to His promises. A young Scottish minister was once asked, was once called to come to the deathbed of an elderly peasant woman in the congregation. And her minister, as a good physician of the soul, asked her on her deathbed, what if after all your praying and trusting, your soul should be lost forever? And she very humbly and wisely replied, I can only say, sir, that God would lose more than I would. Poor old nanny would only lose her soul, which would be a sad loss. But God would lose his character. And then the whole world would go to ruin. God has promised. And he will keep his promises. And he is able to keep his promises. God writes no unfinished symphonies. He never loses interest in his people. He never runs out of time. He never depletes the resources of his grace. He is never incapacitated in any way. Calvin said, God is not like men who are wearied or exhausted by doing good. And so Paul says in another place, 2 Timothy 1.12, I am not ashamed for I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded, same word, I have confidence that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. Beloved, you can have confidence in the unchanging nature, character of God. Thirdly, Paul had confidence in the plan of God. How do we see that? being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you, the grace of God, will carry it on to completion, the nature of God, until the day of Christ Jesus. The mention of the last great day teaches us, reminds us, that God has a plan that he is working out. A perfect plan from all eternity to save a people in Christ. This is the will of the Father who sent me, John 6, 39. Jesus said, that of all that he has given me, I should lose nothing, but I should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. The plan of God. Romans 8.30, moreover, whom he predestined, these he also called. And whom he called, these he also justified. And whom he justified, these he also glorified. The plan of God. When Jesus first came to the world, he came as the suffering Lamb of God to live a spotless life and then to die a sacrifice for the guilt of the sin of his people on the cross. He did everything necessary for sinners to be reconciled to God and God to them. And you remember that after the three hours of darkness on Golgotha, he could say, it is finished. The penalty of the guilt of his church was paid in full. And the Bible says, one day, according to the same plan of God, the now resurrected, ascended Jesus Christ, who accomplished redemption at the cross, and who is now applying redemption by his spirit, will conquer all his and our enemies, and he will present his bride, the church, to the Father. And I think we can imagine him saying again, in glorious consummation. It is finished. It is finished. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice. Though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials. The trials come and challenge our faith, but a Christian has every reason to have great confidence in God and his promises, his plan, his purposes. There's so much that we don't know, Romans 11, 33, all the depths, the riches, how unsearchable his judgments, his paths beyond tracing out. But beloved, remember they are his judgments and they are his paths. They are the judgments and paths of your loving and wise Father in heaven." And as someone said, and then I'll repeat it, but I'll repeat it once more, he is too loving to be cruel and he is too wise to make a mistake. So Black Forest congregation, as you worship, serve, and live as a church of the Lord Jesus Christ, you can be confident that Jesus will build his church as you look to God's grace, God's nature, and God's plan. But I can't leave it there. That would be a good place for an amen. But I can't leave it there. I need to ask you something very personally. And I don't know you all, but as a minister of the gospel with an open Bible in front of us, I'm compelled and I'm constrained to ask you. He who began a good work in you, in the original it's the plural. He began a good work in you all. Paul is writing to the church, to the saints, to the visible church. But Paul also said to saints, examine yourselves to see whether you're in the faith. Has God begun the good work of salvation in you? And boys and girls, you're old enough to understand as well. Has God begun a good work in you? Do you have faith in Christ? Repentance toward God? Do you have an honest desire for a holy life? Is there a heartfelt love for God and neighbor in your life? I'm compelled to say this because without the good work of God's grace and spirit, the spirit of Christ in us, we could only ever have dead works. People can be sinfully self confident. Spiritual self-confidence paves the road to hell. Later in this letter, Paul said, for it is we who serve God by His Spirit who boast in Jesus Christ, who put no confidence in the flesh. Though I myself have reasons for such confidence, if someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more. But whatever were gains to me, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ. God calls you, he calls me today, to confide in Christ, to have confidence in Jesus Christ as your only Savior and your sovereign Lord. Dear children, continue in Him so that when He appears, we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming. And if that good work by God's grace and Spirit is begun in you, begun among you in this congregation, then we have reason for gratitude and joy and confidence that God will see it through. I often hear people in the church speaking about the different works. Have you heard about the new work in such and such a place? Or how is the work going up there in Laramie? That's the way we speak. But over and above any of your work, or my work, or our work, pray that the work begun here Black Forest would be the good work of God, begun by Him and carried on by Him. And when that's true, with Paul, I can say to you on the authority of God's Word, in all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy. Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. Let's pray. Our great triune, eternal, infinite, and unchangeable God, the God of creation, the God of redemption in Jesus Christ. Father, we thank you that there is such great hope in your Word and comfort in your Word, joy in your Word, because your Word speaks of Jesus Christ. Father, please, Extinguish, remove, put to death self-confidence in us. And Lord, we pray that as you do that, there wouldn't simply be left a vacuum, but that by your grace you'd fill our hearts and souls and minds and lives with gospel confidence in Jesus Christ. That confidence will never be disappointed, never thwarted. And Father, we thank You that Paul could write this way and I pray that the reality of it would be known and experienced in this congregation of Your people. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's stand to sing Psalm 125.