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Now here's today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. This is Paul looking back. This is the Holy Spirit pressing the Delete key. Paul looking back saying, Bless you, pain, bless you, problems, bless you, prison, bless you, chains. Because, as hard as those were, I see the effect the gospel has had, and for that I have joy.
Well, that's an attitude. That's an attitude. I read an article, I found an article this week. About your attitude. And it was all about.
the right kind of attitude in life and It was found in, of all places, the Huffington Post. And the article was called Your Attitude Determines Your Altitude. The article spoke about how your attitude affects your ability to enjoy your life. It affects your ability to be grateful. For blessings, to note that these things are blessings to me.
And the article went on to say. It's the reason it's so important to hang out with the right kind of people. Who will influence your attitude? You know, there's an awful lot of people, even Christian people. Yeah.
who look like basset hounds. You know, they're on their way to heaven, but you'd never know it. And it's important to be with those people like Paul who can look back and go, ah. But look it, filter through it. Notice how God was at work.
I have joy because of that. I rejoice in that. My mind could go back as I go through my catalog of memories. I can think about the hardships when we started, the trials and the tears that we experienced, the betrayals I've had in ministry. But as I look back, honestly, so much has been deleted.
I remember things happened, but I don't remember the particulars. And I thank God for that selective memory disorder. And I think it's from him. I think back to changed lives and churches planted and souls saved. And for that, I rejoice.
I'm thankful for God's word collectively. Here's the second partnership principle. Not only be thankful for God's work collectively, be confident. in God's work personally. And that's what he draws our attention to in verse 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.
Now, allow me to unpack. This little verse, there's a lot in it. Yeah. This personal work Was begun by God. It's God's work.
Notice what it says: being confident that He. Who has begun? This could work. Paul is not referring to what the Philippians did. He's not saying, kudos to you guys.
You did such a great work at Philippi. You planned, you strategized, you took demographic studies of the greater Philippian region. Nor is Paul talking about himself. He's not talking about or bragging about the work that he and Silas and Timothy did. Because frankly He just showed up.
And God did the work.
Now, you might hear that and go, Skip, you're not giving Paul enough credit. He did more than just show up, he spoke the word to Lydia. Yeah, but Luke, who was with him, put it this way: the Lord opened up her heart. To heed the things spoken by Paul.
So, who did the work, Paul or God?
Well, Paul spoke, but he spoke sort of because he was there. And the Lord opened her heart. The Lord did that. Then Paul was put in prison. Yeah.
And his back was covered with welts, and he's in stocks, and it's midnight.
So he turns to his buddy and goes, Hey, let's sing.
So they start singing hymns. And what happened? An earthquake happened. An earthquake shook the prison and opened the doors, and the chains fell out. Did Paul do that?
That wasn't Paul's work, that was God's work. Paul showed up. The Lord opened people's hearts. An earthquake happened. It is God's work that He.
was doing. I love that verse in Ephesians 2. For we are his Workmanship. His poema, his work of art. God is the master of all.
artist, skillful artist, always looking to express himself. It's his work. Not only is it God's work, notice more carefully in the verse, it's a gradual work. It says, he who has begun A good work.
Now, that word begun implies it's still going on. Think for a moment. of the good work That God has begun in you. Think of the first time you heard the gospel. Maybe you heard it, and parts of you said, Yeah, I'm sort of touched by that.
But then you heard it a second time. And your heart softened. And a third time, maybe it took several times until you finally said, I give up, I surrender my life to Christ. At that moment, on that day, God began a work. He initiated a task.
It's an ongoing work. I bring this up because some of you that I'm talking to feel very discouraged as you look at your own life. There are problems in your life, there are imperfections in your life, and you're tempted to look at yourself and say, This is God's masterpiece? This is the workmanship. This is the poema, the great work of art.
Doesn't look very good to me. Push. But what you're looking at is what a visitor to a great artist studio would see if he walked in, and there's that artist with that white canvas spread out on a beautiful frame. and the visitor notices a splotch of orange and yellow and green and The visitor thinks I could do that. That's not art.
I can throw paint at a canvas and put color on it. And that visitor might even say, Excuse me, Mr. Famous Artist. But that doesn't look like a great piece of art to me, and the artist would say that's because you're looking at a work in progress. I have something in my mind.
I have a goal for this. But you are just seeing it at its early stages. Just like you are seeing you in the middle. of the job. You see, holiness is not a light switch.
It's not like You come to Christ and he flips the switch and it's like, I'm perfect. We all know that's not true. The Christian life is not a sprint, it is a marathon. Put in your time, you go through the paces.
So it's God's work, it's a gradual work. But notice more carefully in verse 6: it's a growing work. That is, it has to do with your spiritual growth. Inside of you. Notice it says: He who has begun a good work, where?
In you. You see, God's work is always an inside job. Before it's ever an outside job, God works in you. Before he works through you. It's sad, really, but most of our concerns in life.
our outward concerns. Most people, their focus, their concern is about outward things. How do I look? Do you like my hair? Do you like this dress on me?
Do I look too fat? Am I too thin? Am I too wrinkled? Am I too pale? It's usually outward stuff that we are preoccupied with.
How's the weather? How's the temperature? How do I feel? It's all outward stuff. Rarely do people really get concerned about the inside work.
I was in a furniture store a while back and My eye was drawn, it was a used furniture, a consignment place, you know, where people bring in their stuff to sell. And my eye was drawn to this beautiful. Antique refurbished piano. I love musical instruments, so I walked over to it immediately. It was dark walnut, all redone, the casing.
And what struck me about this piano is looking in it. You know what was in it? Nothing. It was a piano casing redone. There was no good work in it.
There were just outsides, no insides.
Now compare that to A modern Steinway piano. Ever look at a price tag of a Steinway piano, $120,000? You think, what? Let me go back to that consignment store. But there's no good work in it.
Now, what the amazing thing about a Steinway piano doesn't just look good, what's in it is amazing. What's in it? Are 12,500 different components assembled by 200 different craftspeople? Who meticulously put that together? And then, after it's done, the Steinway piano is taken to a special room they call the Pounder Room.
That doesn't sound very good, does it? The pounder room is the place where every key gets pounded 10,000 times. But with all that work and all that pounding, there is a good work inside that piano. And eventually A master musician sits down at those keys, moves the fingers around. and the beautiful music is played and enjoyed.
Okay. That's God's intention to do. through you. He wants to make his music through you. Before he works through you, he's got to work in you.
And sometimes you feel, I'm in the pounder room over and over and over and over and over again.
So it's God's work, it's a gradual work, it's a growing work.
Now, let me just bring this up because you might ask, well, What are the kinds of things God would do in me?
Well, let me give you a few suggestions. The first work God does in you, that's a good work. Is he makes you guilty? You say that's Good. That didn't sound like a good work.
I live in a culture Skip that tells me guilt is bad, and I should do everything I can to get rid of guilt. No, God makes you guilty, and that's a good work. See, He makes you and I aware of our lost condition. And in our awareness of a lost condition, That's what drives us. to seek salvation.
So the first work he does, he makes you guilty. Second work he does, he makes you hungry. You long for something different. You long and hunger and thirst for a different kind of life. This is Connect with Skip-Heitzig.
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Let's return now to today's message. Third thing he does in you is he makes you happy. Once you come to Christ, he puts the joy of a forgiven life. He puts that joy inside of you. You're now forgiven.
Fourth thing he does, he makes you holy. And let me tell you, that's a life. Long. That's where the pounder room comes in. He makes you holy.
That is, he takes off the rough edges of your life. You got any rough edges? Mine are still coming off. That's the good work he does in you.
So it's God's work, a gradual work, a growing work, but I got to say this because it's in the verse: it's a guaranteed work. It says, being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will what? He will complete it. Until the day of Jesus Christ. One translation says he'll bring it to a flourishing finish.
Whatever God starts, God finishes. He who has begun will complete. How many of you here have unfinished projects at home? Come on, be honest. Yeah.
God bless you. I see that hand. God bless you. I have a running list of unfinished projects. The other day I noticed a pro I looked out my window of my study and I noticed in the front yard, there's a project, won't tell you what it is, but it has been on my docket for five years.
Now I started it. And I walked away from it. And now I look at it. As an unfinished project. Aren't you glad that God Almighty is not like Skip Heitzig?
He is the author and the finisher of our faith. What he begins, he completes.
Now he's gonna keep working on you. You know until when? I'll tell you when it says so in the verse. He will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. God won't stop working on you till Jesus shows up.
Now that's commitment. The day of Jesus Christ is referring to the day when we are in his presence with glorified, resurrected bodies. God will never give up on you. He will never stop working on you until you're like Jesus. God never.
God never says of any of you. I quit. I'm he never goes. I'm no way. I'm done.
You're so lame. I mean, I work hard on you, and nothing really changes, so I'm done. Yeah. It's as if when you came to Christ, he hung a sign over your life that says, under construction. You're under construction, and he won't take that sign down until you're glorified.
So, until the day of Christ, it's God's work, a gradual work, a growing work, and it is a guaranteed work.
So be thankful. That's the first partnership principle. Be thankful for God's work collectively. Be confident in God's work personally. And here's the third, and I'll close with this: partnership principle.
Be aware. of God's work practically. Verse 7, he says, 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 are all partakers of me with grace. For God is my witness how greatly I long for you all.
with the affection of Jesus Christ. Yeah. That's a confusing statement the way it's written for us, but let me just sort of sum it up for you. This is a tender statement. Of Paul the Apostle saying, You have a special place in my heart.
A very unique and tender place in my heart. And Paul's saying, I feel linked together with you, whether I'm in prison. Or I'm out on the streets preaching the gospel. I feel we are linked together. Why?
Well, I want you to notice a word in verse 7. Look at the word partakers. Look at the word partakers. And if you have the freedom to write in your Bibles. Not all of you feel you have that freedom.
I do. You may want to circle partakers. And circle fellowship in verse five and run a line to them. Because they are related words. Remember what I told you?
The word fellowship, koinenia, also translated partnership. The word partakers is related to that word fellowship. But it's not koinonia. The word in verse seven is sug koinenas. Sug koinenas.
It means a joint. Fellowship or a joint. Partnership. It's translated here. partakers.
Now let me be practical. How can you be sure? How can you be sure that God is really working in you? Are there signs? That show, yeah, God is at work in me.
Yes, there are. There are two signs mentioned in verse 7. It's when you stand up for the gospel. And it's when you spread the gospel. Those two signs show that you are serious about the family business.
You believe the product.
So much so that you stand up for the gospel and you spread the gospel. I want you to see it in verse 7. It's right for me to think this of you all because I have you in my heart, special place in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the, watch this, defense. Defense is when you stand up for something. And confirmation of the gospel, you are partakers with me.
Of grace.
Now that word. Defence. is apologia. We get the term apologetics from it. It's a defense of the faith.
So whenever you hear somebody Ridicule the gospel. or mock the Jesus that you love. You stand up and you defend it. You say, excuse me, you're speaking about somebody that I love. That Jesus you just used in that cuss word, that's somebody that I love.
I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't do that. You stand up for it. You try to answer people's questions. You try to explain your faith. You stand up for the truth.
You do what Peter said to do in 1 Peter chapter 3. Always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you. A reason for the hope that lies in you. Yeah. If you didn't love God, you wouldn't do that.
You wouldn't care less what people say about Jesus or the Christian faith or anything. The fact that you stand up for it. is a sign or a proof That it matters to you, that you love him, that he's at work in you, because you stand up for it. You make a defense. Second is you spread the gospel.
And that's the word right after that: the confirmation of the gospel.
Now that is a word That was a legal term used in giving legal testimony. Means to tell, to speak. And it's to confirm a fact using legal testimony.
So here's how it works: every time the gospel is preached. And received It's confirmed. Every time you see somebody respond to the gospel, Whether you give it or I give it. When that gospel is given out and received, It confirms the gospel. You're going, look, it works.
It happened again. That same old message still changes lives. It confirms it. The defense and the confirmation of the gospel. The practical proof.
That you are part of the family business is that you believe in the product. You believe in it so much is that you stand up for it and you spread it around. If you don't stand up for it and you don't spread it around, It's good to ask, do you really believe the product? That makes sense, right?
Now, this task, this is what I want to underscore as I close, this task. Is a family task. Remember, it's a family business. I must be about my father's business. Jesus passed that on to his disciples.
His disciples passed that on to the next generation.
Now it's Our turn. The baton of the gospels in. Our hands. We are always, Christianity is always one generation from extinction. We pass it on to the next.
All of us are involved. It's a family partnership. An article I read said this: The kingdom of God is not meant to be a loose confederation of island individuals. But rather, a unified group that is committed to the welfare of each other. The only cell in the human body that does its own thing is the cancer cell.
Paul's letter to the Philippians teaches us that fellowship is vital in the Christian life. Christian life in the United States is something like American football. Or you have 11 men out on the field in desperate need of rest, and 50,000 people in the stadium in desperate need of exercise. In a similar way, too many churches. In too many churches, the pastor and a small band of helpers are exhausted.
While most of the congregation sits. and takes it all in. That is not a New Testament church. The New Testament church is a joint partnership together in the family business. And we're all about doing our part wherever we are.
Now that's the family business, but You gotta be in the family. to be into business. And how do you get in the family? You got to be born into it, right? Jesus said, you must be.
Born again, a spiritual birth. Spiritual birth, or you will not see his words. You will not see the kingdom of God, you know, the kingdom of heaven. Unless you are born again, you will not get to heaven. You need a spiritual birth, a spiritual awakening to go to heaven.
So, yeah. He wants to work through you, but first he's got to work in you. And the first work in you is to make you realize you need him. And maybe some of you are realizing that right now. Maybe some of you are feeling a little bit guilty.
I know what some people do when they feel guilty, they get up and walk out. I'm glad that you've decided to sit down and listen to the whole message. And maybe God has been trying to make you feel guilty to show you you're lost and you need him so that you just go, well, I've had enough of that. I've had enough of walking my own way.
Now I'm going to walk his way. That's called repentance in the Bible, where you turn around and walk his way. And if you have never done that personally, Though you may have gone to church all your life or for the last few years, if you have not personally received Christ, I'm going to give you the opportunity. You know, I know people that come to church every week because they're sort of drugged to church. You will come to church, you will sit there, and so that's it.
But is Is it real to you? Are you a saved man or a saved woman? Are you sure? That when you die You will go directly to heaven. You can be sure.
You can know. It doesn't come by being a good person. It's acknowledging I'm not a good person, I need the good person. The god person who Who died in my place? I need him as my savior.
I'm going to trust him. That's the gospel. I'm going to trust him. I'm going to believe in him. I'm going to turn to him.
Yeah. We're so glad you joined us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. And remember, before you go, your generosity today makes a real difference. As this year ends, your gift of $50 or more helps more people hear God's word and find lasting hope in Jesus. And to thank you, we'll send you the Daily God Journal, along with the companion digital devotional, the Daily God Book.
These resources will help you start the new year aligned with God's heart and growing in faith each day. Give your year-end gift now at connectwithskippe.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzen. Making connections! Make a connection, never foot.
Of the crisis. I can't so bury Some Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of connection communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
