Prepared for preaching in Pakistan
Translated by Pastor Ravi Daniel
3:30AM PST Friday – 4:30PM Friday Pakistan
Greetings to you all in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has saved us from sin and death, but he isn’t finished with us. Jesus will continue to work in us until we are made complete. We will be made complete on the second coming of Christ. We will be made perfect when God makes a new heaven and new earth. This is the great hope that we have as believers of Jesus Christ.
Greetings to Pastor Ravi Daniel who faithfully and lovingly shares the gospel of Jesus Christ to many people. God has blessed Pastor Ravi with a heart for children and adults. As Pastor Ravi continues to serve in these ways, may God bless him and his family with peace and joy. We are very thankful to God for the ministry that God is doing through Pastor Ravi Daniel.
Greetings to Miracle Presence Church in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As the LORD God works upon our hearts, may we be reminded that all these things are by God’s grace. Even after you are given the gift of faith, the power which holds that faith in you is God himself. God has you in His hands.
The message for today comes from Philippians 1:6. This message is for those of us who feel discouraged, because of our own weaknesses. There are days where we are a good Christian and there are days where we are a bad Christian. Sometimes we are strong Christians and sometimes we are weak Christians. Whether we are strong or weak, Jesus Christ is the one who will complete us. We are the work of Jesus Christ. He will work on us until completion.
Let’s read the verse together.
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to competition at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6
The Apostle Paul writes a very powerful message to the church of Philippians. The Apostle is convinced that Jesus Christ began a work in the church and that Jesus Christ will bring it to completion.
Please say this with me.
“Jesus Christ began a work in me.”
“Jesus Christ will complete the work in me.”
There are many kinds of works.
Some works need only one man to complete.
Some works need two men to complete.
Some works need ten men to complete.
The good work that Jesus Christ is doing in you, only God can do.
What Good work is Jesus Christ doing?
Jesus Christ is sowing the word of God in our hearts and nurturing it to grow into a fruit-bearing tree. Jesus Christ came preaching the gospel. The Gospel is the word of God. As Jesus Christ was preaching, some believed and others didn’t. For some, the seed didn’t lay root. For others, the seed laid root temporarily. For the chosen, the seed laid root and there was harvest of good works.
In Matthew 13, Jesus teaches us a parable.
A sower went out to sow seeds.
Some seeds were eaten by birds.
Some seeds were scotched by the sun.
Some seeds were choked by thorns and died.
Some seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty and some thirty.
In order to understand this parable, you must understand what Jesus means by the seeds here.
In Luke 8:11 it says, “The seed is the word of God.”
There are some people who hear the gospel, but after talking to their friends, they don’t believe.
There are some people who hear the gospel, but it doesn’t take root into their hearts.
There are some people who hear the gospel, but life gets hard and they don’t believe.
These are those who weren’t chosen by God, but heard the gospel and believed for a moment.
As for the elect, the chosen, we are good soil waiting for the seeds.
From before the foundations of the world, God has chosen us and prepared us as good soil. We have a plan and purpose in our lives to be a fertile ground for God to bear fruits of righteousness on earth.
2 Corinthians 9:8 says, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”
The good work of Jesus Christ is to make us into good workers. It is to make us like Christ. He does this by entering into our hearts and planting seeds of the word of God. Jesus Christ is the word become flesh. Jesus Christ is planting himself into our hearts. As this seed grows and matures, there comes a season of harvest. At harvest time, Jesus Christ will harvest the fruits of the spirit from us.
Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruits of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
Jesus Christ is both the Sower and the seed. The heavenly father is the one that makes it grow. As we understand how our spiritual lives work, we can see clearly that God is at work in us.
Jesus Christ is the one who prepared the ground.
Jesus Christ is the one who planted the seeds.
As you and I know, we are not perfect.
We are forgiven, but we still doing bad works.
We are born-again, but our flesh still tempts us.
Please say this with me, “God isn’t finished with us.”
But pastor, I still sin. “God isn’t finished with us.”
But pastor, I am still tempted by sin. “God isn’t finished with us.”
But pastor, I still have evil thoughts. “God isn’t finished with us.”
Praise the Lord that you recognize you are a sinner!
Praise the Lord that you recognize that you are being tempted.
Praise the Lord that you recognize what is evil.
Recognizing sin is the first step cleansing yourself from what is dishonorable.
2 Timothy 2:21`, “Therefor, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart and holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.”
Do you see a repeating theme in the verses?
The good work that Jesus Christ started in us is that we would be useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. The good work of Christ results in good works through us. This is what we mean that the seed is alive. It’s real and it making real changes in us.
As we wait for the second coming of Jesus Christ.
As we wait for the day of the Lord.
How can I be steadfast?
My heart is so weak.
My mind is so weak.
My life is bad at times.
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to competition at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6
God will surely do it.