Your Work Will Be Completed

Today we hear a lot about the art of confident living. Enroll in a Dale Carnegie course, and you will be taught principles which will help you convey self-assurance.

Some time ago a repairman came to our house. Our dryer had gone on the blink. We immediately liked him. Pondering on it later, we realized that it was his bearing that we had found pleasing. He gave the appearance of knowing what he was doing. Quickly he checked out the dryer, dismantled a certain portion of it, replaced two little parts, put the machine back together again, and left. His job was completed. He seemed to have no doubt about what he was doing.

However, self-confidence can be misleading. Not everyone who looks like he knows what he is doing can do it. I have heard horror stories from friends that have told of repair shops where they have had to return their vehicles to repair shop several times to get the same problem fixed. Sometimes they just give up and move the vehicle to another shop to get the repairs done correctly.

One friend stated that for weeks a technician, who looked confident would worked on the vehicle. There was only one difference, he didn’t get the repairs done correctly. They began to lose confidence in the shop because the unit didn’t stay fixed.

The worker seemed just as sure of himself but that wasn’t enough. He finally admitted he didn’t know what really was wrong. He consulted someone else. Although his self-confidence was somewhat diminished, he became stronger as he sought help outside himself.

The Apostle Paul in Philippians also expressed confidence.

However, it was a different type of assurance from that which we drill into our sharp young people. Paul’s confidence was in God. It was from the Lord that he received his assurance. He writes, “And I am sure that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” The King James translators use the words “being confident.”

Your confidence is misplaced if it is in the trustworthiness of another person. In this day of image-making, you and I can be so quickly let down by those in whom we put our trust. In fact, you and I can be let down by ourselves as we foolishly trust our own personal abilities.

Paul’s confidence was not placed in another human being or in himself. It was placed in the Lord. He writes, “And I am sure that He ….”

How exciting to know the trustworthiness of the Lord who gives to you and me confidence. Take your eyes off Jesus Christ and you are in trouble. Lean on your own money, prestige, power, competence and you will find that you are resting on glass crutches. You are a human being. You are subject to the limitations of the flesh. Your money can be stolen or lost. Your health can break. Your power can be stripped from you. Your position can be lowered.

That’s why God’s Word encourages you to set your affection on things above, not on things below.

My mother used to say boy, you’re getting too big for your britches, what she meant was that I was overconfident in my abilities. And she was right, of course. This is usually the point that I would give up and would not complete my task.

Title:

Our title for today is: Your Work Will Be Completed

Scripture:

Our scripture for today is taken from Philippians 1:3-11 with our focal verse being Verse 6.

Philippians 1:3-11

Philippians 1:3–11 NKJV

3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, 5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; 7 just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. 8 For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. 9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, 10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, 11 being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Our focal verse is Verse 6 ...

Philippians 1:6

Philippians 1:6 NKJV

6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

Introduction

The epistle to the church at Philippi is one of the most intimate and personal letters written by the hand of Paul that we read in the New Testament records. The apostle Paul has several epistles that are a part of biblical revelation. Some were written to churches and some to individuals, but none is more passionate and expressive in love than this letter that he wrote to the church at Philippi.

The theme of this epistle has to do with the divine joy that becomes the birthright of every believer in Christ. Biblical joy is the settled conviction that God who is sovereign controls the events of life for our good and for His glory.

For unlike happiness, God’s joy is not based on external circumstances. We consider that happiness is an attitude of satisfaction or delight based upon external circumstances beyond one’s control.

In this light, happiness cannot be planned or programmed. It is experienced only if and when circumstances are favorable. It is therefore elusive and uncertain. And I think all of us could testify that we live in a world well acquainted with despair, depression, disappointment, dissatisfaction, and a longing for lasting happiness that often never comes to pass.

However, God’s joy is so rooted and grounded in our relationship with Him that it becomes an internal disposition that is not predicated on the external context of one’s life. Shirley Ceasar put it like this in her song titled “This Joy” “This joy that I have, the world didn’t give it to me; and the world can’t take it away!”

It’s too bad that most of us forget this truth when we are facing the troubles of life. Financial problems, health issues, loneliness. The list is endless, can you say but God.

When Paul wrote this letter to the church at Philippi, he was probably a prisoner in Rome. This letter gave Paul the opportunity to express his love and appreciation for the Christians at Philippi, to share with them his situation and contentment in Christ, and to address some problems in the church.

And it is in this sixth verse that Paul said something that was encouraging and insightful not only for the Philippians but also for every child of God when he declared, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

This verse in The Message Bible reads like this: “There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.”

Relationship to Text

Here Paul speaks of what theologians have called “the divine initiative.” God is the doer, the initiator, and the actor in our affairs. We are the responder, the receivers, and the recipients of His action.

Throughout the Bible we see the revelation that God is the initiator. For examples just consider episodes in the lives of Abraham, Jacob, and Moses. And even in the life of the apostle Paul, who could never forget the day he had seen and experienced Christ’s transforming revelation on the road to Damascus.

He was on his way with letters to arrest those who were committed to Christ when he got arrested himself by Christ.

And the man who had been a butcher would become a brother.

The man who had been an antagonist of the faith would become an apostle of the faith.

It would be the apostle Paul who would go all over Asia Minor declaring the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.

Have you ever considered the implications of what it means for God to be the initiator, the doer, and the actor in the affairs of life?

Here are three the implications:

1. It is to affirm the truth that it is God who is doing a good work through us.

When Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, he put it like this: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:8–10). A simple way of stating this is that we should always remember that we are saved by God’s grace and not by our goodness.

The second implication found in this writing is that:

2. It is to recognize the fact that God uses other people to help give shape to our spiritual formation.

What God is working out in our lives, He is doing so in relationship to the church. God’s good work is not done in a vacuum; it is accomplished in the fellowship of believers. This is why we are told in the book of Hebrews, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (Heb. 10:24–25).

Look, I can only speak for myself about how God, used my relationship with others to shape and mold me. Oh …. If I could only take the time to share with you some of those men. See God can use anybody at any time even with them knowing to shape His children.

There was Dick Crawley, my first employer at the age of 14. I don’t know if he was a believer or not, but what I do know is that taught me that if you are on time for work, you are late. To give 120 percent and strive to be the best.

Pastor Charles Kirkland, who saw the calling on my life way before I was ready to admit it. Who spent hours teaching me God’s Word and expectations of a leader.

Pastor Tony Williams, who saw God working in me and allowed me to lead the Media Department at Maranatha Christian Center.

Pastor Mark Humphreys, who allowed a man he had only spoken to on the phone to share the pulpit at Heartland Church.

Pastors Gwen Shepherd another great friend and mentor, throughout the years. She continues to encourage me.

Pastor Dr. Kevin James, my friend, my mentor. He gave many hours of his time to teach, lead and encourage me through some very tough times.

You see it was and is though the assembling of the brothers and sisters that we get teaching, encouragement, and direction. And I say, God can and will use anyone or anything to prepare us to do His will.

The third implication found in this writing is that:

3. It is to live knowing that we have the assurance that God is sovereign, and whatever difficulties and dilemmas we may face, our victory is guaranteed.

The trials and tribulations in our lives and the struggles and sorrows we have been challenged by are not indicators that God has forsaken us or reneged on His promises in our lives.

Suffering, struggle, and sacrifice are parts of the Christian pilgrimage. For don’t you recall that Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world”(John 16:33).

Conclusion

A few years ago during my travels back and forth to work, I would drive by a beautiful home which was being constructed a mile or so from the freeway. Built on a wooded knoll alongside a lake, it was a magnificent structure — one of the most expensive homes I’d ever seen. How hard the workmen labored!

Suddenly one day, just after the roof went on, the action stopped. The house was not completed. For weeks and months it stood there empty, unfurnished. Rumors began to circulate. The wealthy man for whom it was being built had gone through bankruptcy. He no longer could afford a house that huge. The project stood as a memorial to his inability to complete the project begun.

Fortunately for you and I, God has sufficient means. His line of credit is never withdrawn. If you look beyond yourself, you can be confident that He who has begun a good work in you is right now in the process of carrying out this lifelong project, fully capable of bringing it to completion.

Neither you and I, nor our mother church, nor our denomination, have yet “arrived.” But all of us are in the process of becoming complete as we open ourselves to the work of Christ who has all the resources and commitment to complete what He has begun!

What God starts He finishes. We can live with the confidence that God has a plan and purpose that He is working out in our lives for our good and for His glory!

I want to close with this reminder to everyone of us, what every your assignment is, Your Work Will Be Completed

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