The words that we turn to as our text this morning are found in one of Paul's letters, the letter to the Philippians, the letter to the Christian Church in Philippi. You will see the relevance of the passage we read, I trust, as we go along. Chapter 1 and verse 6 of the letter to the Philippians, where Paul writes these words, being confident of this very thing, that he which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. I was not aware that your pastor's 20th anniversary was upon us until I heard in the vestry, but possibly this is a verse that I was led to providentially for because it is appropriate to think at a 20th anniversary there is much truth in this verse that is relevant to such a situation. That wasn't the reason why I was led to it. I expect we all have been in a situation sometimes where we're visiting someone, a friend maybe, or a relative, and in the course of the conversation they say, I had a letter this morning from so-and-so, whom mutually known to both of you. I'd like you to read it. And maybe they want a little advice as to how to answer it or something, or just out of interest they want you to read it, be that as it may. You're reading a letter which was addressed to someone else. That's exactly what we're doing. We are reading a letter which was written by Paul to the Christian Church in Philippi. And I suppose you're well aware of the fact that out of 27 books, 21 are letters in the New Testament. So this is by far and away the greater parts of the New Testament, these 21 letters. Most of the scriptures that we have, as we call them New Testament scriptures, not thinking of the Old Testament scriptures now, but they are in this form of letters, epistolary is the official word for it, and you can, in the book of Revelation there are more letters of course, there are seven letters to churches there as well, but that's a different sort of book so we won't go into that now. But when you are given a letter in that situation that I suggested a moment ago, you learn a number of things. You learn something about the person who wrote the letter. You learn something about the person who's received the letter, the person who's given you the letter to read. And you learn something about what the content of the letter is, what the reason for writing was, what the message is in the letter, or the problem or whatever. And when you look at the letters in the New Testament, those are the very things that you learn from these letters. First of all, of course, here we learn a great deal about the Apostle Paul, the writer of the letter. He's in prison. He's in chains. He uses the word bonds in verse 7. in my bonds." And he uses it elsewhere in the letter, and there are other letters written at the same time where he uses the same phrase. He's thinking, Ephesians is it? He uses the phrase, an ambassador in bonds. He's still an ambassador, although he's in these chains. Well, that's his physical situation. He's got no freedom. He's got very few friends, it seems. That's one thing he mentions in the letter, how pleased he is to have this man Epaphroditus, who's come with the letter from the Philippians to him. He's so glad to have him with him for a while, a friend. And he's taken ill while he's there, and Paul is so concerned for him. Is he going to be able to go back to Philippi? But he's so delighted to have this man, a friend, and not just a friend of course, but fellowship, Christian fellowship. He has little of that either. And what are his prospects? Well, he tells us, he doesn't know what's going to happen. I'm in a strait between two, I might be put to death, I might be spared, I don't know. But he says, whichever it is, he says, If I die, I'm going to be with Christ, which is far better. If I live, I might be able to come back and minister to you again. He's quite ready for either of those things. And someone has said they don't know any letter in the New Testament that is so full of joy. One of the scholars has counted the word joy or some similar word, a word from the same Greek root, 50 times. It's only four chapters, this letter. 50 times in four chapters. That's some joy, isn't it? So that's the state of this. And he says in chapter 4, you remember, I don't mind what situation I'm in. I have learned in whatsoever state I am therein to be content. I've learned how to abound, to have plenty. I've learned how to be a base, to have nothing. He doesn't mind. Those are not things that affect him. There's a great message there for us as Christians. God doesn't of necessity alter our circumstances. We might like Him to, but He doesn't. What He does is strengthen us and give us grace to face those circumstances, even like the Apostle, to rejoice in them. God says to the Romans that we rejoice, we rejoice in tribulations also. Do we? That's what these early Christians did. And then, moving on from Paul, the writer, to the recipients, the church in Philippi. Well, the first thing to remember is, as we saw in the reading, they were situated in what was known as a colony of Rome. I think it's Hendrickson who says, it was as much Rome as Rome itself. In other words, every law that applied in Rome applied there. And these were the days when the deification of the Caesar of the day, the emperor of the day, were coming in. And you had to worship Caesar. You couldn't worship anybody else. And that was the situation that the Christians were in, in Philippi. It wasn't an easy situation. And of course, we know also they had problems. In chapter 3, we read about the problems they had from the Judaizers. We don't read so much about that in this letter as we would, say, in the letter to the Galatians. But nevertheless, here there are people who are going about, the Jews, telling the Gentiles when they came to faith in Christ, they had to be circumcised. They had to obey that part of the Roman law. and he tells them clearly in chapter three they mustn't listen to these men, we are not of that spirit or that party. So they had problems in that way. At the same time they were making a very effective witness. He says, he's heard that They're holding forth the gospel, and He wants them to go on doing that, being nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and this of God. And to you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, they were given faith in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. God has given you that too. having the same conflict which you saw in me and now here to be in me. You're suffering just as I did when I was in Philippi, given stripes and put in prison and the rest of it. And he's in prison now. So he says, you're just like myself. And he's rejoicing in that and glad to know that. There are problems in the church. They're not major. Well, it's a lack of unity more than anything else. There are problems of that kind. Two women in particular are mentioned in the fourth chapter, Euodias and Syntyche. One of the commentators says, Euodias and soon Tyche for the other one. I don't know if that's really relevant. It's one way of understanding that there was a problem between them, but there was some problem there. And it seems to be not just the two women because he says in chapter two, you see, Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind. Let each esteem other better than themselves." They needed more humility and lowliness of mind. That was one of the things which they needed. Let this mind be in you, he says, which was in Christ Jesus. Well, we can't pursue that this morning. That's another text for another time. But that's what he says to them. Now, there's the Philippian church. Not faultless. But then you don't find a faultless church in this world. If you're looking for a perfect church in this world, you look until the end of your life, because the only perfect church is in heaven, in glory. Every church here, being made up of sinful men and women, is bound to have its faults. Don't be surprised at that. But in all this, despite all these things, Paul's note above all that prevails is a note of confidence. He says, for instance, in chapter 2, he says, it's God who works in you to will and to do of his good pleasure. That's one thing he says about it. And he says in chapter 4, my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory through Christ Jesus. And in a sense, that confidence is summed up in the words we're looking at in particular, this sixth verse. being confident, he says, of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. So where does this confidence spring from? Is it because they're a good bunch of people? No, it's not that. They're good workers. No, it's not that. They've got a prayer meeting. and good prayers. No, it's not that either. It's nothing to do with them. The confidence he has is based on God, not on them. The one who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. This good work, or this work of grace, if you like, is going to go on. Just let me make a point here as we look at the verse. I'm sure we are aware of this. There is a work which Christ did which God does for us. That was done almost two thousand years ago when the Son of God came into the world and lived and taught and lived a perfect life and We look at this more this evening, God willing. But that work, and on the cross of course, that was the work He did for us. Christ's redemptive work for us. But there is another work in us. That goes on all the time. Professor John Murray wrote a little book, Redemption Accomplished and Applied. That's the two parts of the work. Accomplished, that's for us. Applied, that's in us. You see the difference? This is about the work in us, in you. It's that, if you like, they use the word subjective aspect of the work sometimes. Well, no, this is what we're looking at here this morning. And I said earlier, it's a day we remember the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. Not that we make too much of these days at all, but nevertheless, although we may not mention the Spirit by name, this is His work. This is what He does. This is what He's done, if you're a Christian, begun to do, and is doing, and will do. But this is His work. It's the Holy Spirit's work. So I just want to look at this work briefly under three headings, and I don't think I'm forcing it, but they all begin with the letter C. You can tell me afterwards if you think it was a natural division or a forced division, but I think you'll see it's a natural division. The first thing is the commencement of the work. He which has begun a good work. Now that's a vast subject on its own, because we're thinking about the whole nature of rebirth, of regeneration, how this work begins. All I'm going to do this morning, not to go into that in that sort of detail, what I'm going to do this morning is to think of how it began in Philippi, because it's a Philippi he's writing, so that's what he's got in mind. How did it begin? Well, first of all, if you remember in our reading in Acts 16, Paul was at Troas and he didn't know where to go. He didn't know where the Lord wanted him to go. That's more like it. And the Spirit stopped him going into this part. shut the door on him going into another part, and then he had that great vision of a man from Macedonia saying, come over into Macedonia and help us. And he didn't hesitate anymore. This was the Lord's leading. He had to go there. So he had a very remarkable call to Macedonia. And he went to Philippi, which was the chief city of Macedonia. He went to the heart of that area of Macedonia, if you like. And that's how God started the work, actually, in Europe. That's the first time we've got any record of the Gospel coming into Europe. So these people in Philippi are the first converts, you could say. Some suggest in the fifties of the first century. Some even suggested, I think Dr. Lloyd-Jones, you suggested on one occasion, it was 51. and he preached a sermon in connection with some event in London, the Festival of Britain or something, in 1951, where he linked those things up, the gospel coming to Europe in 51. Well, what happened in Philippi centers mainly on three people. And I just want to look at those three people to see how the work began in Philippi. The first, of course, was when Paul went by the riverside on a Sunday morning, on a Sabbath morning, and found the Jews meeting there, or proselytes, and a woman among them from a place called Thyatira, one of the seven churches in the book of the Revelation. And she had her own business. selling purple. Now either purple dye or purple cloth, there seems to be a bit of a uncertainty about that, but people describe her as an entrepreneur in her day. She'd come all the way from Thyatira to Philippi to sell this purple. So she's a well-to-do person in her own right, as it were. And what happened when he spoke the Word of God was the Lord opened her heart. That's how the work began in Philippi. When God begins a work, he opens hearts. Do you remember Wesley's hymn, And can it be that I should gain? There's a line in that hymn, Fast bound by sin. Our hearts fast bound by sin and nature's night. Well, he has to open them. He has to open them. He does that. Nobody else can do that. He has to overcome our resistance to do that. There's a story told, you may have heard it before, about Spurgeon, a man coming to him and asking to be for membership in the Tabernacle. And Spurgeon had a little chat with him and he said, well, what's your experience, your spiritual experience? Well, he said, I became a Christian, he said, God did his part and I did mine. And Spurgeon pricked up his ears a little and he was a bit on the defensive when he said, I did mine. So he thought, can you explain that? What do you mean? So the man said, well, he said, God, God spoke to me and God was trying to draw me. He said, and I fought against him and I resisted him and I rebelled against him all the time. And Spurgeon was quite happy with that. He hadn't done anything. only resist, only reject. It was God's doing. God opened his heart. And that's how it was with this woman, Lydia, in Philippi. He opens the heart to the Word and to convert to other things as well. Then the second person we read about is this girl with the spirit of divination, soothsaying, sort of fortune-telling. All because he has an evil spirit in her, a disruptive spirit. Now, you notice with this girl, it's very strange, isn't it? The words she says after Paul and Silas are good. Did you notice that? These men are the servants of the Most High God, and they show unto us the way of salvation. What's wrong with that? You see, the words are all right. But the way she did it, the way the devil, the spirit caused her to do it, she was disrupting them. When they wanted to preach, she was shouting these words out all the time. Repetitive. Paul didn't do anything straight away, did he? He let it go on for a few days. Interestingly, he didn't do anything rashly or impulsively or suddenly. He prayed about it, no doubt, and waited on the Lord for leading. And in the end, after a number of days, he spoke to the Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ, come out of her. And he did. And the Spirit of truth saying, left her. And of course, she was a slave girl. The owners, the masters, had lost their livelihood. She made a lot of money for them. But that's what happened to her. The power of Satan was broken in her. And that's another thing that happens. You remember our Lord saying that because the devil is in us, the Satan has hold of us, we're in his grip. He says a greater than he has to come and deliver us from him. That's what he does. When we become Christians, he breaks the power of Satan. He delivers us. He sets the prisoner free, as Wesley again put it. That's the girl with the spirit of divination. And then the third thing, the third person is the jailer. And it took an earthquake to move him. And he thought they'd all gone, you see. And if one of them had gone, The next thing would be they'd take his life. His life would be forfeit. He'd lose it. And Paul says, we're all here. Don't do anything silly. We're all here. Don't take your life with no need. Nobody's gone. And he comes in trembling. Why should he be trembling now? He thought his life was done. No, it's something different now. What must I do to be saved, he says. not saved from death by execution because he'd let the prisoners go, but saved from God's judgment and hell and whatever else he's fearful of. So, he's convicted. He's made to see he needs salvation. He's a sinner. That's what happened on the day of Pentecost, isn't it? When poor Peter preached to those people, 3,000 people were saved. And the question they asked was, men and brethren, what shall we do? Just like the jailer. What shall we do? Have you ever heard anybody crying out, what shall I do? We don't hear it very often. We need to hear it. We need God by His Spirit through the Word to come and convict people. That's what the sword of the Spirit is to do. Pierce us to the quick and make a wound. And then He probes in that wound until we cry out. What must I do? There are three people in whom the good work began, and those three things are part of the way in which God deals with all of us. Like the woman, a heart has to be open And the girl with the spirit that's part of Satan has to be broken. We have to be released from him. And like the jailer, we have to come into conviction till we cry out, what must I do? And believe then on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Do you know those things in your experience? If so, the work has begun. John Wesley, not Charles now, but John Wesley, at the time of his conversion in that meeting in Aldersgate Street in London, Do you remember what he said? He said, I trusted in Christ. I felt I trusted in Christ. I trusted in Christ alone for salvation. My friend, are you in that position? Have you trusted in Christ? Has your heart been opened and you've been released from the power of Satan? Well, those are the ways in which the work began and the way in which it begins with you and me. Let's go on to the second thing. When he commences a work, you can be sure he'll continue it. So the next thing is the continuation of it. He which has begun good work will perform it, or one translation has, will go on developing it, or will carry it on to completion. He'll carry it on. He'll go on with it. You know, There's a difference between a work and an act. I pick up this psalter, that's an act. If I say I'll open it at Psalm 1 and I'll read it to you right through, it's going to take some time, but that's a work, not an act. And this is a work, not an act. It's not a one-off thing. It doesn't just happen. I mean, some people's conversion may be like that, but that's only the very beginning, and the continuation has to follow that. The work of salvation is not a one-off thing. It's not just once and for all, and then it's all over. You know, it's sad sometimes. You talk to Christians, and they talk about some experience they had ten years ago, twenty years ago, thirty years ago. but they don't tell you what's happening today. And if God has begun a work, he continues it. It isn't a one-off thing. You know, you and I, human nature, we begin something and we soon give it up. It gets a bit tough. You know, I wonder how many books you've got at home and you've read the first two or three chapters and you haven't read any more. I expect you've got a few. Not many people will persevere with a book when the going gets hard. That's human nature. God isn't like that. They, the work in them continued. He went on with it. Now, there were changes in them, you know, in Act 16, almost immediately. Do you remember? The woman, Lydia, she said, come to my house. Very first thing she did, come into my house. gave hospitality. That's a sign of grace, isn't it? Immediately. And then, what about the jailer? He washed their stripes. Have you ever heard of a jailer washing a prisoner's stripes? And he took them into his own house and he gave them food. That's grace acting immediately. So there was a change straight away, but now, ten years or so later probably when this letter was written, he speaks about the way they'd gone on. I thank my God for every remembrance of you, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. You didn't forget about me. You went on. And he goes on and he speaks about their witness. You strive together for the faith of the gospel, he says. And I want you to go on holding forth the word of life, he says in chapter 2. So, you see, He's aware of the way in which they've gone on. They've made a collection and sent it, not just the letter, but they've sent him a sum of money by Epaphroditus. And one of the things in chapter 4 is he's thanking them for it. They've gone on. There's a continuation in the work, you see. As I said earlier, you won't find a perfect church in this world, but there should be evidence of going on. There should be evidence of the work developing, of getting more Christ-like. Not perfect. We'll have our faults till our dying day. Remember that. But greater humility, greater unity, more love to one another, growing, continuing. This is a good work. Did you ever hear the story about Michelangelo? He was working on a, not a statue, just a head and shoulders, a bust, and a friend came in and he looked at it and he noticed what he'd done. And then he went away. And in a week he came again, this friend. And he looked at the statue and he said to Michelangelo, he said, you haven't done anything with this in the last week? Oh, indeed I have, he said. Well, I can't see any difference. Ah, well, you see those furrows in the brow? He said, I've just deepened those a little. And those lines under the eye, he said, and around the ear and the hair, he said, I've done... Well, those are trifles, the man said. Ah, said Michelangelo, you never get perfection without paying attention to trifles. And God pays attention to what you and I might think are trifles in your life and mine. But he wants to present us perfect before the presence of his glory. Not in this life, but he wants to present us perfect. before the presence of His glory. And God takes His time with us. He's patient with us. Do you know how patient He is with you? I know how patient He is with me. It takes years and years and years for Him to smooth out one little rough piece in our temperament and character and all the rest of it. But He's one who goes on with the work. He's continuing the work. He will go on developing it. Are you aware of that? And then in the third place, obviously, he's going to complete it. We've spoken about the commencement and the continuation, but now a word about the completion of it. He who has begun a good work will perform it. Until the day of Jesus Christ. The day of Jesus Christ. The New Testament has got a lot to say about that day. So much the more, is it Hebrews, as you see the day approaching. Don't forsake the gathering of yourselves together. I think that's the context. As you see the day approaching. In the first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul speaks about that day of the Lord, it'll come like a thief in the night. Thief doesn't give you any notice. Puts a leaflet through your door in the afternoon, I'm coming to rob you tonight. No, it just comes. And Peter uses the same phrase, doesn't he, in one of his letters. It'll come as a thief in the night, he says. You see, they all spoke about it. Our Lord speaks about it. The day of the Lord. the day of Christ. That's what you and I are looking towards. We don't know when it's approaching, but we don't know when. But you know, the Christian, and this is the difference between us and those who haven't got our faith, we look for something glorious when that day comes. We look for something which God has promised to us, and He didn't break His promises. He's the God who cannot lie, the Bible tells us. We have a new and a lively hope, a glorious hope. Paul tells us a bit about it in this very chapter. He says, I've got a longing to depart, he says, and to be with Christ, which is far better. Or in chapter 3, Do you remember at the end of chapter 3 he says his great desire here and now is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death. But later on he says this, our conversation or another word used for that is our citizenship is in heaven. Some translated, we are a colony of heaven. Very appropriate for Philippi. They knew what a colony was. They were a Roman colony, Philippi. But he says, we are a heavenly colony. We are as much heaven as heaven itself. To use Hendrickson's phrase about Philippi, that's where we belong. That's where our citizenship is. We've got a temporary citizenship here, But we've got a permanent citizenship there. Our citizenship is in heaven. My friend, is that your hope? He's going to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. I want to depart, he says, and to be there. That's far better. What about the thief on the cross? Well, in a sense, the work in him was condensed into a very short time, wasn't it? Just almost before he died, he turns in repentance and he says, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom when thou comest into thy kingdom. And the word comes this day, you'll be with me in paradise. He began the work. He's continuing the work. It's going to be completed almost immediately. It doesn't happen like that with many. He's the exception that proves the rule. But you see, your citizenship is in heaven. Our homeland is in heaven. We are a colony of heaven. From whence also, he says, we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. What's He going to do when He comes? Well, He tells us in verse 21 of chapter 3, "...who shall change Our vile body is not the best translation, who shall change this body of humiliation, as one translation has it, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body. according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself. It's going to be like His glorious body. John tells us the same thing. Beloved, he says, now are we the sons of God. It does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him. That's enough to know, isn't it? We shall be like Him. We shall see Him. as He is. Doesn't that take your breath away? We shall see Him as He is. We are to be fashioned like unto His glorious body. Is this true of you this morning? Has He begun the good work in you? Is He continuing with it? Is it an everyday thing, not just something that comes out on Sunday? But He's continuing with it. every day, and you owe it all to the Lord Jesus Christ, who was rich but became poor, that we, through His poverty, might become rich. My friend, we are debtors to His grace and to His mercy for all these things. Of course, if He is working that good work in us, the other thing applies, and He mentions it in chapter 2. You He says to the Philippians, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. It isn't you haven't got any responsibility, you have to respond to what God is doing. by giving Him your obedience, obedience to His Word, and obedience to His Spirit when His Spirit speaks to you through the Word, being sensitive to His Spirit when His Spirit moves you to do things for Him. Well, work out, he says, your own salvation. Another thing he says is we press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. It's not that we just As the old saying used to be, a silly sort of phrase, let go and let God, there's none of that in it. May God give us grace then to recognize what He has begun and what He is doing and what He will do, but also to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. For His name's sake. Amen. Now shall we sing to close 566?