The Family Business - Part B

See holiness is not a light switch sound like you come to Christ and he flips the switch and think I'm perfect. We all know that's not true.

The Christian life is not a Sprint. It is a marathon, putting your time, go to the base so it's God's work is a gradual word but notice more carefully in verse six is a growing work that is it. It has to do with your spiritual growth inside of you all going to stumble in life can trust that God will never give up on you to always be there to pick you up today on connect with Skip Heitzig Skip shows you that whatever God starts finishes including the work he's accomplishing in you first Skip wants to share about another way you can hear these encouraging vital messages.

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He's a person who loves you and cares for you and wants to empower you to be everything God calls you to be here. Skip, I think I think there's a lot of questions with heard the term Holy Spirit.

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Give online securely connectwithskip.com/offer Philippians chapter 1 diving door study with skip. I read an article about her article this week about your attitude, and it was all about the right kind of attitude in life.

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 and there's an awful lot of people even Christian people who look like basset hounds there on their way to heaven, but you'd never know it is important to be with those people like Paul who can look back but look at 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 trails I've had in ministry. But as I look back.

Honestly, so much as been deleted. I remember things happen, but I don't remember the particulars and I thank God for that selective memory disorder. I think it's from him. I think back to change lives in churches planted in souls saved.

And for that I rejoice. I'm thankful for God's were collected. There's a second partnership, principal not only be thankful for God's work collectively be confident in God's work. Personally, that's what he draws our attention to in verse six being confident of this very thing, that he always begun a good work and you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Allow me to unpack the silver. There's a lot in it that's personal work was begun by God. It's God's work. That is what it says being confident that he who has begun this good 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 plan to strategize to demographic studies of the greater Philippian region, nor is Paul talking about himself is not talking about are bragging about the work that he and Silas and Timothy did, because frankly, he just showed up.

And God did the work that you might hear they go Skip your argument. Paul enough credit, he did more than just show up peaceful word to Lydia yeah but Luke, who was with them. 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 will Paul spoke, but he spoke sorta because he was there and the Lord opened her heart. The Lord then Paul was put in prison and his back was covered with welts and he's in stocks and it's midnight so returns to his buddy goes a lot saying so they start singing hymns. What happened in earthquake And earthquake shook the prison and open the doors and the chains fell off. Did Paul do that don't involve her that was God's work.

Paul showed up. The Lord opened people's hearts and earthquake happened it is God's work that he was doing.

I love that verse in Ephesians 2 for we are his workmanship is Paul Lehmann his work of art.

God is the master artist skillful artists 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, she who has be gone a good work. Now that word begun implies its still going on.

Think for a moment of the good work that God has begun and you think the first time you heard the gospel. Maybe you heard it, and parts of the city. Sort of touched by that, then you are to the second time in your hearts and the third time you took several times until you find a set I give up. I surrender my life to Christ at that moment on that day God began over 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 Pro-Am of the great work of art that look very good to me. But when you're looking at is what a visitor to a great artist studio would see if you walked in and there is that artist with that white canvas spread out on a beautiful frame and the visitor notices splotch of orange and yellow and green visitor. Thanks I could do that. That's not art.

I control pain to the canvas and put color on and that visitor might even say excuse me Mr. famous artist, but that it looked 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 dislike you are seeing you in the middle of the job. You see, holiness is not a light switch sound like you come to Christ and he puts his wishes like I 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 to the Paces so it's God's work. It's a gradual work but notice more carefully in verse six that the growing work that is it. It has to do with your spiritual growth inside of you notice it says he was begun a good work where in 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 are outward concerns. Most people there focus their concerns about outward thing. How do I look like my hair did like the stress on the toilet to fat my tooth enemy to wrinkle my two pale, it's usually outward stuff that we are preoccupied with how's the weather has a temperature how do I feel it's all outward stuff rarely really get concerned about the inside work. I was in a furniture store a while back and my eye was drawn was a used furniture consignment place. You know are people bring their stuff to sell and I was drawn to this beautiful antique refurbished piano. I love musical instrument 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 there was no good work in it.

There were just outside snow insights. Compare that to a modern Steinway piano look at a price tag of a Steinway piano hundred $20,000 of it was you go back to the consignment store but there's no good work in and out with the amazing thing about a Steinway piano didn'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 calendar room than sound very good is at the pound her room is the place where every key gets pounded 10,000 times, but with all that work and all that pounding. There's a good work inside the piano and eventually a master musician sits down with those keys moves the fingers around in the beautiful music is played and enjoyed.

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 a work in you and sometimes you feel I'm in the pound her 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 me just bring this up because you you might as well. What are the kinds of things God would do in me. Let me give you a few suggestions. The first four God does in you.

That's a good work is he makes you guilty say that's good. Didn't sound like a good workout about a culture Skip the tells me guilt is bad. I should do everything I can to get rid of guilt, know God makes you guilty and that's a good work she makes you and I aware of our lost condition and in our awareness of the lost condition. That's what drives us to seek salvation. So the first work he does. He makes you guilty second work it is. He makes you hungry you you long for something different.

You along in hunger and thirst for a different kind of life. Third thing he does in using makes you happy. Once you come to Christ.

He puts the joy ever forgiven life. He puts that joy inside of you.

You're now forgiven for thing he does.

He makes you holy and let me tell you that the life long for the pound her room comes in. He makes you holy.

That is, he takes off the rough edges of your life got me rough edges minor still coming off.

That's the good work he does in so it's God's work a gradual work, a growing work, but I gotta say this because it's in the verse. It's a guaranteed work. It says being confident of this very thing, that he was begun a good work and 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 was begun will complete how many of you here have unfinished projects at home, be honest.

God bless you see that English I have a running list of unfinished projects the other day I noticed a bride looked out my window of my study and I noticed in the front yard. There's a project once it what it is what it is 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 when he begins he completes now he's in a keep working. The new you know until when I tell you where and 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 and tell your like Jesus, God never God never says of any of you. I quit and he never goes on, no way undone.

You're so lame.

I work hard and you nothing really changes. So I'm done now.

It's as if when you came to Christ, he hung a sign over your life.

It's is under construction.

You're under construction, and he won't take that sign down until your glorified so until the day of Christ, it's a it's God's work, a gradual worker growing work and it is a guaranteed work, so be thankful that's the first partnership, principal be thankful for God's work, collective be confident in God's work personally and here's 1/3 and will close with this partnership, principal, be aware of God's work practically verse seven 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. Now 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 pulsing. I feel linked together with you, whether I'm in prison or not on the streets preaching the gospel.

I feel we are linked together. Why want you to notice the word in verse seven.

Look at the word, partakers of the work 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 aligned to them because they are related words. Remember what I told you the word Fellowship point, India also translated partnership. The work partakers is related to that word Fellowship but is not clean and media the word in verse seven is soon coming in us, so the coin in us. It means a joint fellowship or a joint partnership is translated here partakers. Now let me be practical. How can you be sure, how can you be sure that God is really working and you are there signs that show yet God is a work in me. Yes there are.

There are two signs mentioned in verse seven.

It's when you stand up for the gospel and it's when you spread the gospel. Those two signs show 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 in verse seven 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 end I watch this defense defense is when you stand up for something and confirmation of the gospel you are partakers with me, of grace, that word defense is apologia we get the term apologetics from is a defense of the faith, so whenever you hear somebody ridicule the gospel or mock the cheeses that you love, you stand up and you defend you say excuse me, your speaking about somebody that I love that Jesus unit is using the cuss word that somebody that I love. I brought appreciate if you wouldn't do that you stand up for 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 first Peter chapter 3, always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that lies in now 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, but is a working as you stand up for you make a defense. Second is you spread the gospel.

That's the word right after that the confirmation of the gospel 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 works every time. The gospel is preached and received. It's confirmed every time you see somebody respond to the gospel whether you get better. I give it when I gospel is given out and received it confirms the gospel you going to look it works.

It happened again that same old message still changes lives 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 is where one underscores a close this task is a family task member to family business. I must be about my father's business. Jesus pass that on to his disciples, his disciples pass that on to the next generation. Now it's our turn. The baton of the Gospels and 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 and 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 the 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 into many churches, the pastor in 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 were all about doing our part wherever we are. And that's the family business, but you gotta be in the family to be in the business and how to get the family gotta be born into it right Jesus that you must be born again spiritual birth spiritual birth or you will not see his words, you will not see the kingdom of God.

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 you gotta work in you in the first work in you is to make you realize you need him. That wraps up Skip message from the series Technicolor joy right now Skip is planning his next tour. You can be on the invitation from Skip urine for an incredible time as we travel throughout Israel and experience the culture so unique to that country. Now I've been to Israel and number of times over the years and I can honestly say that visiting the places where the events of the Scriptures unfolded where Jesus lived taught and healed. It just never gets old will start on the Mediterranean Sea and head north. Seeing places like Caesarea and Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River will spend several days in and around Jerusalem and see the temple mount Calvary, the garden of Gethsemane and the Mount of olives and much more.

This remarkable itinerary is made richer with times of worship, Bible study, and lots of fellowship. The Bible will come alive to you in a way it never has before. I hope you'll join Lenny and me on what is always an unforgettable trip. I can't wait to see you in Israel. This dream can come true for you. Start planning and saving now to tour Israel with Skip Heitzigs of information and inspiration. Cruises.com/CAD that's inspiration cruises.com/baby today and tomorrow is Skip Heitzigs explains the priority that love should have a how you love so Skip presentation of connection communications to go through ever-changing time