God Will Finish What He Started

God began a good work in you, and He never leaves anything unfinished. While you are not there yet, He will gradually help you make progress.

Philippians 1:1-11

1 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 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, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

God Started Working on You (1:1-2)

  • Jesus saved Paul while he was a murderous Jewish leader who hated Christians (Acts 9:1-19).
  • Jesus saved Timothy, who came from a religiously and ethnically diverse family (Acts 16:1-5).
  • Jesus started the Philippian church by transforming a wealthy Asian (Acts 16:11-15), a demon-possessed slave (Acts 16:16-24), and a Roman jailer (Acts 16:25-40).
  • From these unlikely candidates, God established a church and leaders from within it (1:1).
  • God initiates a relationship with us not because we are worthy, but because He is gracious (1:2).

God Will Finish Working on You (1:3-6)

  • When we consider how God is working among His Church, it should cause us to thank Him for one another (1:3).
  • Our prayers for one another can be filled with joy as we prioritize our partnership in gospel work (1:4-5).
  • God has never left anything unfinished, and He is not intimidated by our incompleteness (1:6).

God Is Currently Working on You (1:7-11)

  • One of the primary ways that God works in our lives is through the consistent presence and affection of a local church (1:7-8).
  • God uses our discipleship efforts to improve our beliefs and our behaviors (1:9-11).
  • God doesn’t expect you to be perfect, but He does equip you to make progress (1:9-11).

God hasn’t given up on me, and neither has this church.