Philippians 1:4-6, “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine 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:.”
I love that passage of Scripture. Sometimes I feel down and discouraged,
wondering if God has forgotten about me; but then the Holy Spirit reminds me
of this precious truth from Philippians 1:6—He which hath begun a “good
work” in me, will perform it until the Day of Christ (i.e., the
Rapture). 1st John 3:2, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth
not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we
shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” God never does a half
job!
I just heard this awesome quote from Brother Hyles...
“You hold the truth when it's in danger, and the truth will hold you when you're in danger!” —Pastor Jack Hyles, a quote from the Spirit-filled sermon titled: “Hold The Truth And The Truth Will Hold You!”
From eternity past, God already had a plan for my life. God in His foreknowledge knew that one day, as a 13 year old lad, I would receive Jesus Christ as my personal Savior, and He predestinated me to be “CONFORMED” into the image of His only begotten Son. Romans 8:29, “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.” Boy that's great truth! The great omnipotent God of the universe, knew who I was and had a plan for my entire life before I was even conceived. Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”
God has given to all mankind a freewill to choose for our self. “Only Fools Don't Believe In Freewill” (a helpful sermon clip by Pastor Steven Anderson). We don't believe because God chose us to salvation; but rather, God chose us because we believe. We as Christians are the chosen! We are the elect! And that is all because we first CHOSE JESUS CHRIST as our personal Savior!!! God never chooses anyone to be saved; but rather, we choose to receive Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for our sins, and in response to that faith God works the supernatural miracle of salvation (aka, being BORN AGAIN). John 1:12-13, “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.”
Every Christian believer is a work in progress—a diamond in the rough, a child of the King—of whom this world is not worthy. Hebrews 11:36-40, “And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” Did you read that—some of the saints were SAWN ASUNDER (sawn into pieces)! According to oral traditions in both the Jerusalem Talmud as well as the Babylonian Talmud, Isaiah the prophet was sawn asunder by wicked king Manasseh!
Please notice in Hebrews 11:39-40 that those saints who were tortured and martyred, didn't have the opportunity to enjoy all the blessings of the Christian life as most believers do. The Lord said in Luke 12:48b, “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.” We are able to worship God freely in America, without fear of torture or martyrdom, so God expects much more from us. Most believers have the opportunity to grow in grace and live the abundant Christian life, and go soulwinning; but those saints who were fed to the lions, disemboweled and beheaded didn't. So if we squander our time here on earth, and neglect so great a salvation, and fail to “LAY HOLD ON ETERNAL LIFE” (1st Timothy 6:12), then those martyred saints will one day rise up to testify against us in eternity. Hebrews 11:16, “But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.”
I am encouraged by our text passage from Philippians 1:6, which teaches that even when everything seems to be going wrong in my life as a Christian, GOD IS STILL WORKING ON ME! I don't care if a man becomes a quadriplegic confined to an institution for the rest of his life, God is still working on him! I don't claim to understand that truth completely, but by faith I know that “he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” (Philippians 1:6b). That “good work” is in our soul dear friend! Everything that happens to us in this temporal earthly body and life is preparing us for eternity! ...
“If you want this Book [King James Bible] to mean something to you when the burdens come, you take it to work with you when the burdens are not here. In fact, that may cause some burdens! Hold it, defend it, believe it, fight for it, use it, memorize it, hold it; It may not mean as much to you, but someday it will. That which you held, will someday hold you!” —Pastor Jack Hyles, a quote from the Spirit-filled sermon titled: “Hold The Truth And The Truth Will Hold You!”
Dr.
Hyles sure knew what he was talking about. I used to carry a full-sized King
James John R. Rice reference Bible into the workplace every day. I
wrote Bible verses on my red toolbox with permanent black marker, both
inside and outside. One of those verses was John 16:22, “And ye now
therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall
rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.” Those verses comforted
me! I held up the truth when my burdens were small in life, so that when the
roof caved-in upon my life down the road, the truth held me up. ...
“The Bible's never been as sweet to me as it is today. It never has been! I've never loved it like I love it now. Now that I'm an older man, I run to it like a starving man! It holds me—why?—because all these years I've held it!” —Pastor Jack Hyles, a quote from the Spirit-filled sermon titled: “Hold The Truth And The Truth Will Hold You!”
Perhaps some of my regular web visitors are curious why I always post article dates about 7 to 12 days ahead. I do that for a few reasons. One reason is because I am “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” (Titus 2:13), and that Day of Christ can't come fast enough for me! Another reason is because I like to have a buffer, so if my internet crashes or something happens that prevents me from my ministry work (e.g., my neck pain being really bad), I won't feel like I'm falling behind. It's a mind trick, but it helps me not to feel pressured to write new articles. I like to stay ahead in my work! I don't like to procrastinate, even though I do sometimes because of my health afflictions. I try to live by the philosophy: Why do tomorrow what I can do today?
I can't believe that tomorrow will be 2020, wow! Guam is 15 hours ahead of Philadelphia time. So when it is 6 am on Guam Tuesday morning, it is 3 pm Monday afternoon in Philly. So this article may be a bit early for those of you who live in the United States. I am always ahead of myself. I set all my clocks 10 minutes fast. I do that to trick my mind, so I won't be late for anything. So even though I plan to go walking at 6 pm each night, it is actually 5:50 pm. I often pay more than what I owe for my utility bills, because I would rather have a credit than owe money. That is how I live! In my mind, my heart is already in Heaven! This life is so short. I think that is what the Scripture means in Proverbs 4:18, “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” For the child of God, getting older means approaching a better life in Heaven (Philippians 1:21); whereas, for the unsaved person, getting older means death and the end of everything (1st Thessalonians 4:13). Thank God for His love, mercy and grace! HE'S STILL WORKING ON ME!
