God's Faithfulness: Completing the Work He Begins

1) "What we're looking at today is one of the great promises of scripture, is that God is not like us. When God starts something, he finishes it. He does not have the issues that we have of limited resources. He does not have the issues of we have of being fickle. He's the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. So he doesn't change his mind. He doesn't have the struggles that we have because he can't force himself to discipline himself to do what he needs to do. He is sovereign. He is faithful. He finishes what he starts." [04:04] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "So what it means he's putting his active trust in something that is external to himself that he knows to be true. It's not just how he feels, it's not just what he thinks, not what he hopes, not wishful thinking, but it is active faith in something that is external to himself, objectively true. And that's the cross through the cross. He's putting his confidence in that. And the same thing's true here in verse six, Paul is saying, I am confident. I am putting my active trust in something that is outside of myself that I know to be true. And what he knows to be true is he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ." [08:48] (38 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "So what does it mean to say that God began the good work of giving you the gift of life? You realize scripture says that God knew you before you were born. He formed you in your mother's womb. He was knitting you together in the secret places before you were born. The days of your life were already written in this book. That's psalm 139. And so he began the good work of giving you life, and he is bringing that good work to completion. He didn't just meet you at the starting line, shoot the pistol and you go head off running, and he's I'll see you at the finish line, but he is bringing that good work to completion." [10:18] (36 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "So scripture uses this language, we have been saved. We are being saved, and we will be saved. So often we think of our salvation. We want to point back to the time when we gave our life to Christ and our sins were forgiven and we were born again. But scripture also points forward, because at the day of Christ, what happens? The wrath of God is going to be revealed against all unrighteousness. The day of Christ is judgment against sin, which we deserve fully. But we are saved from that by grace, through faith, because we show up on Judgment Day, and we are dressed in his righteousness alone. And so we will be saved from the wrath of God, that is in the future, at the day of Christ." [15:34] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "How many of y'all get frustrated because there is a part of your sin nature that you continue to battle, and you want it to be completed and to hear the promise. It says, he began this good work. He will bring it to completion at the day of Christ. Another way to look at this, the fourth way is this, a verse from Ephesians 210. We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. So another way of looking at this great promise, he who began a good work in you is the good work that God created you to do his purpose for you, the way that God works in you and through you, to minister and serve, to bless others, and to bring glory to God on earth." [19:01] (50 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "And this is the promise that Paul was giving to the church when God began this. He's bringing it to completion in the day of Christ and to rest under that promise. It's a beautiful, beautiful promise that God gives to us. So what is, how do we, the third word then, is this word completion. We talked about why Paul has confidence. It's active faith that he has and something outside of himself that he knows to be true. We talked about the different kinds of work and how this promise shows up in different areas of our life. This last word, though, the word completion really helps us or challenges us to think about how it is that we rest under this promise." [26:16] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7) "And so to rest under this promise is to believe it to be completely true. Even in the moments of our life where we're having a hard time seeing that it's true. It's not hard to believe that my God shall supply all your needs. When you're riding on the waves of provision. It's when you're in the valley and you're praying and you're waiting and you're waiting and you're hoping and you're praying. That's when you need the promise. That's when you need to be reminded. Look, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ. He's not just met you at the starting line, I'll see you at the finish line. But he is with you through this race. What an incredible promise that we have. I am sure of this. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ. Jesus. Amen. Amen." [30:01] (66 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)