Being confident of this very thing (Quality: good)

[0:00] Philippians 1 and verse 6 6. 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.

[0:51] 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.

[1:12] The confidence of the dear apostle, the confidence of every true believer rests upon the faithfulness of God.

[1:32] Rest upon the revealed purpose and will of God. Rest upon the flowings of God's grace.

[1:48] Oh, the vital necessity in religion of having a right beginning.

[2:02] Ever to be preserved from climbing up some other way. From an artificial religion.

[2:15] There's no life there. There's no fragrance there. There's no beauty there. There's no growth there.

[2:27] It's man-made. To be preserved from building on the sand. To be preserved from resting alone upon a head knowledge of the doctrines of grace.

[2:46] It is possible for the mind to instruct itself in doctrine as much as any other subject under the sun.

[3:01] And such characters often appear to be like one named in the pilgrim progress Mr. Talkative. My dear friends, the vital necessity, and you will know it, is you must be born again.

[3:24] Being confident of this very thing. To be preserved from a counterfeit religion.

[3:35] Remember, it may pass the scrutiny of man. Even the scrutiny of a church. Even the scrutiny of a minister.

[3:46] But unless it's real, it will not pass God. And again, I feel, especially in my old age, Can't be long now.

[3:59] Oh, how solemn to come to the end. Destitute of a credential for glory. Destitute of that work of grace wrought in the heart.

[4:17] So, beloved friend, here we have a word of blessed encouragement. And it's a word of confidence.

[4:28] A word that we can rest upon. That he which hath begun a good work in you Will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ.

[4:44] Creation. God brought that by the word of his mouth. And it was very good. Redemption.

[4:56] By laying down, the Savior laying down his life on Calvary's cross. He was finished.

[5:08] The cup of wrath was drunk. All scripture was fulfilled. It was done. When God, in his sovereign purpose, Begins the work of grace, In a poor sinner's heart, He will never die.

[5:31] He may be brought down very low. There may be even a season of backsliding. There may be even a season of darkness of mind.

[5:45] But when God begins that work, He will perform it. It will never, never fail. What a comfort this is.

[5:59] Now, whilst there are those of us, By the grace of God, Can testify that this work of grace Has been begun, And is being put in our heart, And being prepared for glory, I know I have some here, I am sure of it, That are deeply exercised on this point, And desire the assurance of a right beginning, The beginning of God in their souls.

[6:37] Oh, beloved friend, It's a great mercy that you are so exercised, And watchful concerning your own case, That you don't accept anything, What you are seeking after, And I pray that it is so with you, Is the clear evidence, Of the Holy Spirit's work, In your soul.

[7:05] And there again, When you think of the work of heaven, I think of the Lord Jesus, And his title, The Alpha and the Omega, The beginning and the end.

[7:21] I also think of the author, And finisher, Of our faith. Mark that. And that faith, As I often said to you, Is indestructible.

[7:35] Where there is the new birth, There is faith. Maybe but a grain of it, And will doubtless be, In the beginnings of it. And it will never be destroyed, Never be overthrown.

[7:46] And what a comfort that is. He which hath begun, A good work in you. And this good work, Is manifest, Because of the finished work, Of the dear Savior, At Calvary.

[8:05] For all, Of that fountain, Of precious blood, That is open, For sin, And for uncleanness. For that great manifestation, Of his love to sinners, That in his death, On the cross, At Calvary, There, Their sin is forgiven, There, God is the justifier, Of them, That believe in Jesus, There, They escape, The wrath to come.

[8:41] So, Beloved friend, It centers, On the finished work, Sealed, By the resurrection, Of Jesus Christ, From the dead.

[8:54] And we read, Of the shepherd, And his sheep, They shall never perish, Neither shall any man, Plot them out, Of my hand.

[9:05] And the Lord speaks, Of his dear people, As his jewels, And they shall never be lost, You know. And those jewels, Are those that fear the Lord. And those that fear the Lord, Yes, They speak, One to the other, You may say, Well, I can't.

[9:21] The Lord also gathers you in on this, Think on his name. Remember that. May the time come, When you've been able to speak, And better still, To come and speak into the church.

[9:36] But may the Lord encourage you, And the Lord says, And they shall be mine, In that day, When I make up my jewels, These little ones, In Zion, These that fear God, Both small and great.

[9:52] I read, At the funeral for my dear aunt, This afternoon, That in heaven, Before the throne, There are those, That those, And all of them, That feared God, Both small and great.

[10:06] Mark that, In the 19th chapter of Revelation, I think you'll find it, In about the 5th verse, I'd go by memory there, And even, The little ones, The small ones, The little ones.

[10:20] So, Here is encouragement, The right beginning, And that beginning, We'll come to the experience of it, In a moment, But I was just saying, The foundation of it, The confidence of it, The assurance of it, Is the finished work of Christ, Sealed by his glorious resurrection.

[10:42] But now, Who is this made known, In the heart, Of a poor sinner? As some, Very feelingly say, I know some condemn, The words, But it's the exercise, Of a living soul, Tis a point, I long to know, Oft it causes anxious thought, Do I love the Lord, No, Am I his, Or am I not?

[11:13] Let us just, For a moment, Consider, This church at Philippi, And the dear apostle Paul, It may help us, A little, In our meditation, There was a deep, Spiritual bond of love, Between the apostle Paul, And this church, I read, In your hearing, That Paul says, I have you, In my heart, Deep love, But there's also, The marginal rendering, Which is, Ye have me, In your heart, How, This bears testimony, Of the grace of God, How it unites, The minister, To his hearers, And the hearer, To the minister, As God is pleased, To use, His servant,

[12:15] And bless, The hearer, There will be, Love, Flowing, One, To the other, Because, Of the love, Of Jesus Christ, That flows, Into both hearts, The minister, And hearer, Alike, I just tarry here, For a moment, If I may, The remarkable, Beginnings, Wasn't there, You remember, Paul, Say to go to Bithynia, But the spirit, Suffered him not, Another place, He said, A door, Was open to me, Of the Lord, A different way, To what he anticipated, He saw this vision, A man from Macedonia, Saying, Come over into Macedonia, And help us, And through that, As we read in the 16th chapter of Acts, That the apostle, Was assured, That God was speaking,

[13:17] And God was directing, And so, They set sail, To Philippi, But there was no, Evidence at first, Of any purpose, Of God's work, Or any evidence, Of an open field, For the ministry, We do not know, How long, That lasted, But he certainly found, That little company, Of praying people, And united, With them, And there, And one wondered sometimes, Was it through the prayers, Of that little company, Begging of the Lord, To send the gospel to them, That I must leave, But it does often, It does touch my heart, Because where, The Lord is preparing, A people for his work, He will prepare their hearts, To seek and pray for it, Well, The apostle comes, And there, As he speaks, To those people, There was one, At least, Most graciously,

[14:18] Wrought upon, Where, This work, As we have, In this sixth verse, This great, Good work, In you, Was begun, In one, Called Lydia, And here, We see, The sovereignty of God, Here we see, The gentleness, Of that work, And yet we see, The assurance, Of that work, That some of us, Have had, A very, Gentle, Teaching, And leading, And that, Sometimes, Leads, To a greater, Exercise, Of soul, And concern, Because the devil, Tempts us, To say, Well, You cannot tell, When or where, God began, That work of grace, In your heart, But my friend, We believe, And we can say, Indeed, We can say, As one of our hymns, And born I am, And that of God, But here, Dear Lydia, Not only did she hear,

[15:19] The word, But she was baptized, And continued in love, With the dear servant, Of God, And opened her home, To him, And to Silas as well, And then of course, We have the, Casting out of the, Spirit of divination, From the poor woman, And that led, The menace of the gospel, To be, Accused, Contemned, Beaten, And cast into prison, Now, What is this?

[15:52] Surely, That vision must be wrong, Surely, There's a mistake now, God, Is going to reveal, Even in a prison, Even if the jailer, A work begun, And who would ever have thought it?

[16:12] Now, Wait a minute, Do not begin to think, There's only what we might say, Notorious sinners, Real open enemies, The only ones that, Is so clear that the work has begun, God begins, Very gently at some times, I've often thought of Nathaniel, Under the fig tree, And others in the word of God, I've often thought of, Mary, That sat at the feet of Jesus, It seemed, A gentle work, But never, A real work, And just think of that jailer, For a moment, What hatred there was, What cruelty, That was the world, What did grace do?

[17:03] Changing completely, Didn't it? Where before, He thrust those men, Of God, Into the inner prison, Made their feet fast, And the stocks, And no hand, To alleviate, Their sufferings, Now bathes those, Backs, Falls at their feet, What must I do, To be saved?

[17:24] Here is the great work, Of God's grace begun, And here, As the dear man, Baptized, And becomes a member, Of the church, At Philippi, He and his household, What a, What a contrast, Between, Lydia, And the jailer, And so it is in a church, In disposition sometimes, You take, I mustn't wander too much on this, But, You take the apostles, They were men of different temperaments, Peter wasn't John, Peter was impetuous, John was so tender, And loving, Although I know, At one time, He said, Lord, Will they send fire down, On those people, And you take Thomas, With all these doubts, And fears, And so forth, You go through, But there, God's purpose, And uniting, Bringing together,

[18:26] Binding together, In love, Spiritual love, And the bond of peace, So here we see, The work begun, And that, The apostles, I'm confident, That that which God has begun, In Lydia, And in that jailer, Will be performed, I feel, Unexpectedly, To just name a narrative, Possibly I've mentioned it before, As a, I don't know where it was, I think it may have been abroad, It doesn't matter where, A poor man was in such distress, And darkness of mind, Not a believer, And he felt the only thing was to, Do away with his life, To this end, He loaded him, His pockets with lead, And weights, And was going to cast himself, Into the river, But it wasn't quite dark, Very nearly dark, Just dusk, A little bit of weight, In case somebody saw him,

[19:28] Then he heard some singing, In a house nearby, He felt constrained to go, Stood there, Knocked on the door, Could he come in, And they looked at him, A bit suspiciously, And said, Well if you're quiet, Of course you can, Got in, They finished the hymn, Or song, Whatever it was, They were singing, The minister, There was a little service, In the house, And stood up, And announced his text, Do thyself, No harm, That was the word, Of Paul, To that jailer, After the service, The poor man said, To the people, Who told you, All about me, No one knew him at all, God, Saved him, And began, In his heart, That work of grace, Now, I do not want, To discourage those of you, That cannot look,

[20:29] For clear spots, And places, I can't, And yet I can, I know that sounds, Like a contradiction, I can't look, At a spot, And say, Well now, That's where, God began, That's where I was converted, I can't name that, But I can look, Back to spots, And places, Where I think, Yes, God was dealing, With me, First, And this is where we come, To this beginning, Of the work of grace, Though it's so well known, And we keep, Preaching it from time to time, But first, Some sense, Of one's, Lost state, Of the holiness, And justice of God, That you're lost, You're perishing, That God is holy, That there's no help for you, That you deserve, Hell, And that there, It seems so dark, But this, Though you are so dark, This person is being led, In such a way as this,

[21:30] The light, Of life, Is already, Beginning, To shine, And this work of grace, Is evidently, In its beginning, In this way, That where, There is this, Real, Spiritual, Conviction, Of sin, It will lead, That poor, Guilty, Troubled, Burdened, Soul, You'll say, Of all lepers, I'm the chief, Oh, I'm the worst of sinners, I'm so unworthy, And can there be hope for me, But I believe, I know, There are sinners, That flee to Christ, I know, I'm told, That Jesus, Received sinners, I'm told, That Jesus, Died for sinners, Then, Why not for me, And, Oh, My dear friend, The turning, Of your soul, And, Where before, You rested, Satisfied on saying, A prayer, Or rested, On hearing, Others pray,

[22:30] But now, You start to try, And pray, In your own heart, In secret, No one else knows about it, I often think, Of my dear parents, They knew nothing, What God, In the beginning, Of my heart, Of that young boy, Up at the top of that house, It was a top floor, That I slept in, That on my bed, That boy, Was starting to try and pray, Starting to ask God for mercy, Starting to pray, To be made ready, And, Oh, And broken prayers, Poor prayers, Yes, But they were from the heart, And, And, Those prayers were gradually answered, Step by step, So there we are, That is the light of life, Beginning the work, And that, Drawing you, To the dear saviour, Of Jesus, Making Christ, The one thing needed for, The altogether precious, And then, Step by step, Raising up in your heart, A word from the gospel, Bring a little hope here,

[23:32] And another, Yes, I know that, You say, That was for me, And though, Sometimes even though, You may be questioning, But you know, It was, And you say, I know, Because I couldn't, Give myself, The power, Bring that effect, Of that word, Upon my spirit, It came just where I wanted it, And my, I, You may say, I don't know about my faith, But your faith, It is your faith, Is laying hold upon it, You plead it, You seek it, You've been praying, For a token for good, You've been praying, For God to bless you, And help you, And draw near to you, And comfort you, And grow closer to Christ, So, He which hath begun, That good work, In you, Will perform it, Unto the day of Jesus Christ, Now here, You see, There is spiritual life, Here is a root, Here is a precious seed, Here is a building, On a sure foundation, Here is one, On the rock, Christ,

[24:33] Jesus, The Lord, Oh, Beloved friend, I say, A real beginning, A right beginning, Led in by the spirit, And yet, I say, Encouraged, Step by step, And yet, From time to time, Sorely tried, Another mark, Will be, The company, That you keep, Where you are happy with, Are you happy, When I say, When you are free, From business, Responsibilities, Do you, Are you free, Do you want to go back, To mix with that, Worldly company, When, Perhaps on a Monday morning, You hear what they did, On the Saturday afternoon, And the Sunday, And how they profound, The Sabbath day, And you hear, The name of Christ, Blaspheme, You hear, Words so vile, And my friend, It's a different atmosphere, Now it's not that we say, I'm holier than thou, It's only by grace, That we differ, Only by grace, But it is by grace,

[25:33] That we differ, And then, Looking at the positive side, You come in and say, Ah, This people is my people, I love to meet among them, Now, And at thy gracious feet, To bow, Though vilest, Of them all, So the Lord says here, That being confident, Of this very thing, That he, Which hath begun, A good work in you, Will perform it, Unto the day of Jesus Christ, Then take another word, And take the good shepherd, With the sheep, He seeks that sheep, That's lost, It's his, But it's lost, It's far away, But he goes out, After it, He knows where to find it, And when to find it, And when he's found it, Then, He brings it, In his arms, Now, Do you think, He is going to lose that sheep, Do you think, That those sheep, That cost the shepherd, His own heart's blood, In all those intense, Sufferings on the cross, At Calvary, As he endured, As it were, The hidings of his father's face, As he endured, All that man could do, Against him, Do you think,

[26:34] That having, Seen a betrayal of his soul, He's going to lose, One of them, Do you think, That the enemy of souls, Is going to snatch, One of little lamb, Out of the arms, Of the shepherd, Never, Never, Never, My friend, This is our comfort, And this is our consolation, And this is our confidence, And this is our assurance, He which hath begun, A good work in you, You see, It's a foundation, And it's a foundation, It's Christ, It's not you, It's not my works, Nothing of self, It's Christ, His finished work, And that's, What our faith, Rests upon, Our hope, Builds upon, And that's our confidence, And that is, Our trust, Being confident, Of this very thing, That he which hath begun, A good work in you, Will perform it, Unto the day, Of Jesus Christ, Another mark, Will be, Walking in the fear, Of the Lord, And that, As you know, Is in love to God, And hatred to sin, It will have such an effect,

[27:35] And it will cover, The smallest detail, As well as big matters, In one's life, You see, Now, That, Something tells me, That's not right, Something tells me, That's not what God would say, And may God give us the grace, There to heed that voice, And to depart from evil, And to follow it, In loving obedience, To our good, And our gracious God, So now, We come, To this one, The latter part, Will perform it, Unto the day, Of Jesus Christ, The margin, There says, Will finish it, That can be, In a young child, To be in cases, Where the work was begun, And finished, I've often known, Perhaps it may be helpful, Perhaps I should, But I will, Because although, The time has been front of me, As a little girl, Or young girl, That called, The minister was called,

[28:37] To visit a young girl, He didn't know her at all, And obviously she was dying, So I don't know you, Oh yes, She said, She'd crept in, No one saw her, But she listened, Been going for some time, And God spoke to her, She said, I was a sinner, I was lost, But I kept coming, And as she came, The Lord blessed her, And I'm cutting it short, To tell you that, She said, I'm not afraid to die, I'm waiting, I'm ready, And in the further instruction, And words of her lips, The dear minister, Who hadn't received any tokens, For some time, Was so humbled, There was the clear evidence, Of a work of grace begun, If it was once or twice, And then she came, He went again, She said, I'm near the end, This will be the last time, And she said this, I'm finished with prayer, It's all praises, Work begun, Now this may be, Then in a case, We think of dear,

[29:38] Some of our dear friends, That lived to a great age, And you see, All in the sovereign purpose of God, Now this performing, Of this work of grace, Is the establishing of it, There's a growth in grace, We say about a root, And a seed, It doesn't, It's not the seed, Or the root, Only, It's what springs from it, And the growth, That is manifest in it, And that growing grace, And the knowledge, Of our Lord, And Savior, Jesus Christ, And this work of grace, Will be to empty us of ourself, And to make Christ more precious, He will wean us from the world, He will bring us, Or may we be brought to it, Where the apostle says here, For to me to live is Christ, And to die is gain, That Christ may be magnified in my body, Whether in life or death, For to me to live is Christ, And to die is gain, In other words, It's the sinner and Christ, Closer and closer together, Now I know, Sadly or do I know, There are times, In our spiritual experience,

[30:39] When our love grows cold, When we get worldly, And filled with pride, Grieve the spirit, But nevertheless, Was that this is very sad, And starving to us, In spiritual blessing, And comfort, And God will deal with us, For our backsliding, But he will restore unto us, The joy of the salvation, But the way back, Is very hard at times, But it will bring us back, To these blessings again, And may, The trials of our faith, The times of testing, That we pass through, Be that experience, In our soul, To draw us closer, To the Savior, That we are made, To know, That whereas I, I said, I believe, I know, Whom I have believed, I've proved it, That promise, I know, Be still, And know, That I am God, You see, In the being still, When you couldn't do anything else, But the Lord kept you, With that quietness, And trust, You were able to say, I know that was God,

[31:39] When your heart, Was filled with peace, And in the midst of your troubles, You know that was God, Because you couldn't do it yourself, And perform that work, Again, We are reminded, That God's children, Like that silver, That go, The refiner of silver, Or the gold, Or the precious stones, And the, Also the, Stones in Solomon's temple, All bring the same thought, Preparation, Those stones for the Solomon's temple, Weren't all ready, They had to be quiet, They had to be cleansed, They had to be shaped, They had to be prepared, And marked, And then taken, When ready, When made ready, To their appointed place, And that's so with God's dear children, And when the harvest is ripe, And when that wheat is fully grown, When that head of corn, Is bound with fruitfulness, That golden grain, Then gather the wheat, Into my barn, You see, There it is, And there's this growth,

[32:40] Little children, And young men, And fathers, As the apostle John, Describes them, So here we have, That was in his epistle, Of course, Here you have, This assurance, And who works all this, Our God, That makes no mistake, Oh, There's some rough, Corners to be shaped on, Self to be humble, Oh, My friend, Much dross to be burned up, Much of the flesh, To be crucified, Much of self, To be humbled, And empty, But all to be prepared, For glory, And to come, To the end of our days, And really, And I believe, I can truly say, That really, There's nothing much, In this world for me, Now don't misunderstand, Tell me, I love my dear ones, I love you my people, And while I'm, My life is spared, Desire to serve, God, But the world, I like my little home,

[33:41] But, It's just my home, I'm thankful for it, But, I, I don't set my heart, I love my garden, But even that, Isn't quite such an attraction, It was, I just want to be drawn, Closer to Christ, Made ready for glory, A shock of corn, Fully ripe, But I must leave it with you, I don't feel I've done justice, To this text tonight, But I've just dropped a few, Simple thoughts, And what does it say, Unto the day, Of Jesus Christ, And that day, Is the, The day of our death, That day, Is the day of judgment, But what a mercy, To come, To the end, The day of death, Fall asleep in Jesus, No sting there, That sting, He's been removed, By the blood, The grave, No victory there, And the redeemed dust, To await the assurance, Of the coming, Of the Lord Jesus, To rise, And to be with him, Forever,

[34:42] And ever, Well, Being confident, Of this very thing, That he which hath begun, A good work in you, Will perform it, Unto the day, Of Jesus Christ, Amen.

[34:54] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Available. Amen.

[35:06] Amen. Amen. Amen. cette matière, Amen.