At this time, children be dismissed for children's church. And if you would take your Bibles and turn if you would to Philippians chapter one. Philippians chapter one. We're gonna read some of those a few of the verses in the surrounding context there. In Paul's letter to the Christians, the believers in the city of Philippi, Philippi is a city in Macedonia, which we would probably call Northern Greece.

It was a city that Paul went to on his second missionary journey in order to bring the gospel to the people of that area, most of whom had probably never heard the gospel before. Several were saved starting with a lady named Lydia, and then others were added, and the church began to grow and but then Paul had to leave and but the church continued and so Paul wrote back a little while later to encourage the people and to teach them more. As he couldn't be there in person at the time, he sent a letter to help to encourage them. At the time he sent the letter, he was in prison in Rome. Okay?

This is one of what's called the prison epistles and Paul was being kept under house arrest in Rome and was there for a while and during that time he wrote several letters. This was one of them to the believers in Philippi to encourage them. You'd think Paul would be the one that needed encouragement, but Paul wrote to encourage them. They had communicated with him, they had actually sent him a gift via one of their own people that had brought it to him there in Rome. He was very thankful and he mentions that here in the letter on more than one occasion.

But I want to read verses three through seven here this morning and then we're gonna go back and look at this together. Paul writes, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. Always in every prayer of mind for you all always in every prayer of mind for you all making request with joy. For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. Being confident of this very thing that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all because I have you in my heart in as much as both in my bonds and in defense and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. Let's go to the Lord in prayer once more. Lord, thank you for your word today. Thank you for the opportunity to look into it together. We thank you, Lord, for all that you have done for us and the opportunity we have been given to know you and to become the children of God through faith in your son, our risen savior.

We come here today to worship you, to praise your name, and we pray that you would be exalted and glorified in all that's said and done in this place. And I pray as your word goes forth that it will not return void, but will be powerful to work in our lives as your spirit leads. In Jesus name we do pray. Amen. Paul begins here at this letter by thanking God for the believers in Philippi.

He was very encouraged by what he had heard of them. He was very encouraged by what he had heard via the messenger who had brought him a gift from them. And so Paul thanked God for them. He thanked God for it was God who had brought them into the fold of salvation. It was God who had given them this burden and enabling power to minister with Paul in the furtherance of the gospel.

And that's always the focus of Paul is in the furtherance, the preaching, the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ and he was encouraged that they wanted to be part of that. And he thanked God for what God had done in their lives. Most of these people, some of them were were Jews that he had led to the Lord, some of them were Gentiles that had previously been idolaters and had come to know Christ, and boy had Christ made a difference in their life. And Paul could see that and he was so thankful for what God was doing as they were growing in their knowledge of the scriptures, as they were growing in their love for Christ and one another, as they were growing in their burden to reach others with the gospel and assisting Paul in his evangelistic efforts. These are all things which Paul addresses in his letter to the saints at Philippi, things that he is thankful for and he wants them to know that.

This caused Paul to intercede all the more for them, making petitions to God for them regularly and joyously as he observed the change that was happening in their lives. In this, Paul demonstrated his thankfulness for them and their thoughtfulness while at the same time drawing their attention to who? Drawing their attention to Jesus Christ, to the power of God because it was he that made this possible. It was he that was doing this work. It wasn't Paul.

He was just a messenger. He was the delivery boy that brought the gospel to them and introduced them to who? To Jesus Christ that had changed their lives. And so Paul wanted them to know of his thankfulness and and how encouraging it was to him. But he wanted to draw their attention to the fact that it was God that was making the difference in their life, which we should as a matter of practice and heart do also.

It is not we in ourselves, it is not by any merit of our own strength, not of the flesh that we have come to know Christ as savior, that we have seen victory over sin in our life, that God has brought other people into our fold. It is the grace and power of God that has made all those things possible and is working still. It is so encouraging when reading someone's testimony to hear God being thanked for giving them the victory. Maybe it's the spiritual victory. Maybe it's just the victory in a baseball game.

But it's still good to hear when somebody says, I just wanna thank God for this. It's good to hear that in testimony that when God is acknowledged and recognized, whether it be in a victory or in some success in life or in leading them to the perfect ministry or person or answer they were looking for. And that's something that should regularly come from our heart and out of our mouth when we are thankful for what God is doing, when we see victories and successes in our life, we must remember God is at work. Our heavenly father washes over us and he cares and he's involved and we must remember him to give him glory and praise as Paul does here. Paul continues in expressing in verse six his confidence.

His confidence that they will continue. Paul is confident that what God had started in the church among the believers in Philippi that wasn't gonna trail off and fade away. But Paul was confident that that would only grow stronger and that those who had put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ weren't going to go astray, they were going to stick with the Lord. Not by their strength, but by whose? By his.

Says in verse six, being confident of this very thing that he which hath begun a good work in you. Who is he talking about? He's talking about God. That God who has begun this work in you, when you came to him in faith, has changed your eternal destination, has changed the family that you now belong to, and who is changing your heart and your life and your mind. That he which hath begun this good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Till the day we meet who? Till the day we meet Jesus in the place that he has prepared for us. Paul says, I am confident that God is able to finish what he starts. And then when he started with you, he will perform and he will continue. Paul is very confident of this knowing the power and the character of God, that God always keeps his promises.

God always keeps his promises. God is faithful. I'm not always faithful. Not in everything and not all the time. I try to be, I endeavor to be, but there are times that I have failed.

But you know something? My God will not fail. My God is faithful And he has promised to those who love him, to those who know him, to those who have received him by faith as Lord and savior, he has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. And I'm gonna take God at his promise and I am going to believe his word. If he says it, he will do it and I can trust him.

And Paul says to these young believers in Philippi, they're still growing, they're still learning. He says, you can be as confident as I am that what God starts, he finishes and what God has begun with you, he is going to finish because it's not based upon your works, it's based on the work of Christ. It's not based upon your faithfulness, it's based on the faithfulness of who? Of Christ. And therefore, Paul says, I can be confident that God is gonna finish until the day you stand before him.

Have you ever started a project and never finished it? Yeah. I have. I like to buy these when I was in, I don't know, junior high, I like to buy these cars. They came in a box about, you know, yay big and they it was this car was plastic.

It was all in all in pieces and parts. They they had all these little parts, they were all connected by and you had to turn it, you know, and kinda get the pieces apart and then you would either glue them together or you'd snap them together and when you got finished, you would have this neat car that you could roll around or set up as a model. You could even paint it if you want it and, I like getting those. I had like four or five of those. I think maybe I finished one or two of those.

I think the rest of them, were half finished or not started at all. And, but I thank God that when it comes to you and when it comes to me, when it comes to this world he created, God is not in the habit of not finishing what he starts. On day number six, he created Adam and Eve in his image and he said, it is very good. What does that mean? It's completed.

It's ready. I finished and on day number seven, he rested because it was very good. It was done. God finishes what he's gonna finish what he started in you when you came to Christ for salvation. He's not giving up on you.

He's gonna finish with this world and he is gonna finish off his enemy, Satan. And he is gonna set up his kingdom here. And one day he's going to make a new heaven and new earth where we'll live with him forever and sin will be no more. What God starts, he always finishes. Sometimes we don't, but he does.

Not only had God begun a good work in the believers at Philippi, but Paul could be certain that God would finish. Let's take a quick look at what God had begun and what God would finish in them. First of all, what had God done? He had saved them by his grace and power. He mentions that the last word of verse seven, the last word of this sentence is the word grace.

Why is Paul confident? Because they were partakers of God's what? Grace. It is God who had bestowed this salvation upon them by his grace as a gift from a faithful and loving God that would see them through, that would deliver them spotless before his throne in heaven one day. He had saved them by his grace and power.

Salvation is the work of God and not man. As John made clear in John one twelve and thirteen up here on the screen, But as many as received him, who's the him? Jesus. But as many as received him, to them gave he power. Notice that word gave.

Didn't earn it. God what? Gave it. To them gave he power to become the sons of God or the children of God even to them that believe on his name. How how does God give this?

God gives this freely when we choose to put our faith and trust to believe in Jesus Christ who died and rose again. But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. How? Were we born into this new life, born into this new family? We're born into it by the power of God.

All we must do is accept God's invitation, accept God's offer by his grace. He does the work. He did the work on the cross of Calvary for us and he is doing the work even today as he is at the right hand of the father on high. It is by the power and the will of God. It is not us that went to him, it is God that came down to us and became us and then died for us and then went back to his father to intercede for us.

He is the one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. And it is by his power that we have been saved, we have been rescued, we have been delivered from the clutches of sin and Satan and from the eternal penalty in hell. It was Christ who came to seek and to save the lost and the father who sent him. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. It was Christ who died on the cross for the sins of mankind, But God commendeth his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, estranged from God, separated from God.

While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The just for the unjust, the innocent for the guilty, the righteous for the unrighteous. He took our place. He did that for us. It was Christ who rose again from the dead and is seated at the right hand of the father where he ever lives to make intercession for us.

And it is Christ who rescued us from the eternal penalty of sin when we placed our faith in him to be our savior and has forgiven us of all our sins. Colossians one thirteen and fourteen says, who hath delivered us? Who the who is Jesus? Jesus who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, that's sin and Satan. And has translated us into the kingdom of his dear son in whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins.

We were bound in slavery to sin and Satan and Christ redeemed us. He ransomed us. He paid the price to set us free And we have now been set free who have put our faith and trust in Jesus, who have received his offer. We are now free to live in service of the one who made us, freed from the bondage and power and penalty of sin and Satan. Forgiveness and eternal life is God's gift to you by his grace.

For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. I'm afraid there are too many people that think that they are going to somehow earn their spot in heaven. They are going to go to church every week and God's gonna say, hey, that person goes to church every week, I'll let them into heaven. Going to church every week is not gonna get you in heaven. People that think, I'll just be nice to my neighbors and I'll be a good person.

Bible says your righteousness are as filthy rags. The good things you do are tainted by the sin inside you and the bad things you do. There is no weighing out things because the sin goes from the top of your head to the bottom of our feet. You cannot earn your way to heaven by doing good works. There is only one way to get to heaven.

That's by receiving God's offer of salvation as a free gift through the sacrifice of his son, Jesus Christ. Not by works of the law or the flesh, it is the work of God. There's nothing you can add to the work or the gift. You can only what? Receive it or reject it.

If you receive it, it's yours. If you receive it, he comes into your life and changes you forever and makes you his child. If you reject it, then there is no other there is no other course. There there is no other escape, but there is in Jesus Christ. What has God done?

He has saved all those who come to him in faith. He has changed them. He has delivered them, redeemed them. And as Paul points out to the Philippian Christians, what God God has begun in them, he will finish. In John three sixteen, it says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have what?

Everlasting or eternal life. Okay? Now, when do you receive that eternal life? When does it become yours? Does it become yours when you die or does it become yours on the day that you trust Christ as savior?

It becomes yours on the day you trust Christ as savior. Now, if it is eternal, if it is eternal, and I lose it next week, how eternal was it? Didn't last very long, did it? But it is eternal and it is mine for all eternity, starting from the day I trusted Christ as savior until the day that I meet him face to face. Look if you would in first Peter one three through five.

First Peter one three through five. Just a few other verses to back up what Paul is saying here. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Blessed be God, Peter says, who has done this for you and is doing this for us who has begotten us again, who has birthed us anew into his family, into this new life in Christ Jesus, that he might bring us to the place of our what?

Inheritance. An inheritance that's incorruptible, unperishable, undefiled, and that does not fade away reserved in heaven for you. If you know Christ as savior, if you've received God's gift by faith and become a child of God, there is a place in heaven with your name on it. It is reserved in heaven for you. For you who are kept by the power of God as evidenced by your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

You are being kept not by your power, but by whose power? By God's power. So that one day, we who have been saved, who are the saved in Christ Jesus, will receive our inheritance that's awaiting us. That's what Peter is writing to encourage the believers. You can be confident that what God has begun, God will finish.

Romans eight twenty nine. Romans eight twenty nine says, for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. That that is to say this, before the world began, before the day you were born, God knew if you would receive his son as your savior. And God had already predetermined that all those who come to Christ in faith, he would change, He would conform. Remake in the image of who?

Christ Jesus. Now, does God keep his promises? Can God perform that which he has decided to do? Yes. He can and he will.

And this ends on the day that I stand before Jesus spotless, without blemish, like my savior. When God finishes that work that he has begun and continues this very day in the life of all of his children. Second Timothy one twelve, I I read from that before we sang, I know whom I have believed. For which cause I also suffer these things for the sake of the gospel. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

When I have committed to him, what from my best understanding of this context, Paul is talking about his soul. What is Paul what had Paul committed to the Lord? He'd committed his soul. He had trusted God with his soul, with his eternity. And Paul said, I can go out here and preach the gospel, I can endure whatever the world and the devil throws at me because I know this is not all there is.

I've got a home in heaven, there's a place reserved for me and my heavenly Father's keeping it there for me and he's keeping me and he's not gonna he's not gonna let me go. That gave Paul great confidence in his service to Lord, a confidence which we can have as well. I I've mentioned an illustration several times just to help a little bit in understanding of what it means to be saved, but I'll tell it again. So pardon me if you have this memorized, but when I was a kid we had a record, had stories on it, story about this guy who was gonna walk across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. Now, that hadn't been done, I don't think at that point in time, but it has been done since then.

But, but this person put a tightrope across Niagara Falls and there were people gathered on both sides and, they were cheering him on and sure enough, he walked across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. He got to the other side, and in our story, he picks up he has a wheelbarrow on the other side and he takes a wheelbarrow and he sets the wheel and the wheelbarrow on the tightrope. And he asked the people, do you think I can push the wheelbarrow across Niagara Falls? And the crowd says, yeah. Yeah.

Well, they want to see him try, you know. Hopefully, he doesn't die to his death. But anyway, so so they say, yeah. Yeah. Do it.

And so, he he motions to one guy to come over and he says, sir, do you believe I can push this wheelbarrow across Niagara Falls? And the guy says, yeah, I believe you can do it. He says, great, get in the wheelbarrow. And that's that's what it means to Christ, trust Christ. Salvation is trusting God with my soul.

The one who came from heaven, died on a cross, rose again, and says he can take me back there to be with him one day. And I'm trusting my soul to him, not to me, not to my works, not to my to my faithfulness because I fail. But to the ever faithful one who bled and died for me, I've gotten in the wheelbarrow and I'm trusting him and he's not gonna fail me. He will get me there. He's proven it.

He came from heaven. He died on the cross. He rose again from the dead. He ascended back to his father. I believe him, I can trust him, and he is going to finish what he has started.

Hebrews seven twenty five says, wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Christ saves to the what? The uttermost. I'm sure that's a word you've used a lot recently. Uttermost.

Probably not. But it's a word meaning completely and in perpetuity. Every wit, every bit completely. Nothing's left out nor will it ever fail. For he is able to save us to the uttermost, to the end and he will.

If you will trust him, if you will get in the wheelbarrow, if you will trust Christ, he will not fail you. Jude one twenty four and twenty five says, now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise God our savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and forever. Amen. The end of this letter written to some believers by Jude, he finishes with this with this benediction.

Praise of God who will keep them from falling and present them spotless, faultless before his presence one day. He is able to do that for the believers in Jude's day. He's able to do that for all who come to him by faith today. The grace of God why whereby we are saved to the uttermost assures us that God will not fail to deliver us to our home in heaven without spot or blemish as he assured us he would. We can therefore be confident in Christ as Paul that nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus our savior.

As Jesus said, we will never perish for no one or nothing can rip us from his hand. It's not you that is holding on to the hand of Jesus, it is Jesus that is holding on to you and he will not let you go. I'd like to ask just a few questions in closing. Number one, have you had doubts about the power of God to keep you saved? Maybe because you thought you had to help him.

You don't have to help him. You can love him, you can show him your gratitude, talk to him, praise him, thank him, serve him, But he's the one who's going to deliver you to heaven and you can trust him. Cast out those doubts. Cast all your care upon him. God has promised and he will not fail you.

Secondly, what are you doing with this new life and hope, certain expectation, promise of heaven that you've been given? How much do we appreciate him, love him who has done all this for us? What are you doing to show it? That's the question. It's not what you need to do to get to heaven because Christ did that on the cross for you.

It's what are you going to do with what the gift you've been given. That is the question today. And then the final question is this, have you been born again? Have you been saved from sin and hell having received by faith the gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ? Are you trying to get to heaven another way or your way or on your terms or by your effort.

Repent. Change have a change of mind and heart. Turn to God in faith. Trust in the way he has provided his son and you will have eternal life in him. I can't see into the heart of anyone in here today but God can and you know your heart.

Have you received him today? Are you trying to get there another way? Trust in him. Come to him. He will not cast you out.

Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, thank you, Lord, for all that you've done. Thank you, Lord, for Jesus Christ who came and gave his life for us. Thank you for the promise we read here that what you have begun in our life, you will finish till the day we stand before you complete. Lord, we pray if there's one here today or two or three that have yet to receive Christ as savior that have not made that certain in their life.

Lord, I pray that you would help them to see that and be willing to come to you today and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as the savior of their life. And Lord, I pray for us that know you, that we would quit trying to earn your favor. We would just choose to serve you in love, and love for you and love for others that need to hear about you. Thank you, Lord. Give us grace and strength, we pray.

And we pray that you would draw souls to you that they might be saved even this day in Jesus' name. Amen.