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When I read Philippians 1:6, I think of the little song that came out a few years ago:

He's still working on me,
To make me what ought to be.
It took Him just a week to make the moon and the stars,
Jupiter, earth, the sun and Mars.
How loving and patient He must be;
He's still working on me.

The Bible tells us in Psalm 19:1, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handiwork." This universe in which we live is a huge billboard that advertises the handiwork of God. The moon and stars, Jupiter, earth, the sun and Mars, along with the rest of creation are a display of God's power.

In a multibillion dollar project to determine what actually happen when the earth was created, scientists and engineers spent years gathering information. As the thousands of bits of information came in, they were fed into a giant computer. Finally, the day came; all the information had been programmed. The scientists and engineers gathered around the giant computer as the instruction was punched in: "Produce a detailed account of the creation of the earth." Breathlessly the group waited. The great computer hummed, rattled; and finally the printer typed out, "See Genesis 1:1!"

The creation of the universe is a great work of God. It is as the Psalmist described, a display of His handiwork. The creation and existence of this universe does not confirm the absence of God, but rather the ability of God. Science tells us that light travels at the incredible speed of a little over 186,000 miles per second. That means, if you had a rifle capable to shooting a bullet that traveled at the speed of light and was able to follow the curvature of the earth unobstructed, that bullet once fired would pass through your body 7 times before you could move out of the way. Traveling at this stupendous speed, it takes light 4 112 years to go from earth to the nearest star. To cross our galaxy would take 1,000 years traveling at the speed of light. Our nearest galactic neighbor is the Andromeda Galaxy, and, traveling at the speed of light, it would take us 2 million years to reach it. The immensity of it all is a testimony to the glory of God and a display of His handiwork.

Yet, the work that God takes the greatest pride in is not His work in creation, but His work in the Christian. The work that He does in His sons surpasses that done in the stars. The work that He does in His people exceeds that done in the planets.

In the statement of Paul found in our text, we are reminded of this work. Let's consider this statement of Paul and this truth of God and learn about this work of God.

First, we see that this work is an:

1. INDIVIDUAL WORK

It is a work "in you." This work is personal and individual. Yet, it is not a work in "everyone" but in "you." The "you" that Paul spoke of was a primary reference to the believers at Philippi. The identification of the "you" presents the qualifications of this work.

First, we see that Paul's words were:

A. A Reference To A Saved People

The "'you" of verse 6, is a reference to individuals that had experienced the saving grace of God. It is a work that God is doing in Christians. If you have been saved, then you are not only the objects of God's affection but His attention as well.

The first prerequisite of this work is salvation. Notice the words "He which hath begun a good work." The implication being that this work had a start. That start was when one was saved. An important question to ask is, "When God says "you" in Philippians 1:6, is he talking to "you?" Have you been saved?

We also see that his words were:

B. A Reference To A Submitted People

The first prerequisite of this work is salvation. The second is submission. Paul is speaking to a people that had not only been saved, but were allowing God to do what He wanted to do in their life. Christians are not robots that have no will of their own. We are human beings that are either receptive or rebellious. We can either be soft clay or solid stone in His hands.

Here is the difference in one that seems to know so much of God and one that seems to know so little of God. Here is the difference in one that God greatly uses and one that God never uses. Here is the difference in one which God is at work and one in which God does not work. It is a matter of submission.

William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army on one occasion was called before Queen Victoria. The Queen asked him, "General Booth, what is the secret of your ministry? How is it that others are so pale, so pallid, so powerless, so weak, and you are so mighty?" Booth looked into the face of his queen and, with tears streaming down his face, replied, "Your Majesty, I guess the reason is because God has all there is of me."

We read in James 1:4 "But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." Also in Revelation 2:7 "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches;" The real issue is, are we letting God work in our lives? Are we allowing God to do His good work in us? Are we submissive or are we resistive?

In 1829, George Wilson of Pennsylvania, was sentenced to be hanged by a U.S. court for robbery and murder. Yet, President Andrew Jackson pardoned him, but Wilson refused the pardon. The courts of our country found itself with a situation they had never faced before. Should they let him live or go ahead and execute him. He had been pardoned but had refused the pardon. The Supreme Court had to settle the matter. Chief Justice John Marshall gave the following decision: "A pardon is a paper, the value of which depends upon its acceptance by the person implicated. It is hardly supposed that one under a sentence of death would refuse to accept a pardon, but if it is refused, it is no pardon. George Wilson must be hanged." And he was hanged.

Many are missing out on what God wants to do with them and wants to do for them because they are unwilling to let God do what He wants in them. God will, but the question is are we willing?

We also see that it is an:

2. INWARD WORK

Notice that this work is "in you." God works for us, He works with us, He works through us, He works by us, but before He will or can work for us, with us, through us, and by us, He must work "in us." I think we have a tendency to forget that the measure of what God does with us depends on the measure of what He does in us. The magnitude of what God does for us depends on the magnitude of what God does in us. The miracle of what God does by us depends on the miracle of what He does in us.

This miracle is a:

A. Work of Spiritual Correction

There are the "flies that spoil the ointment" and the "little foxes that spoil the vine." There are the things in our life that need correcting. There are things in our life that need removing. A good example is found in Ephesians 4:31 "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice"

God often works like a divine surgeon that removes the cancers of our heart and soul. He works in us to remove the things that displease Him. He works in us to repair the things that disappoint Him. He works in us to reveal the things that disturb Him. In position the believer is perfect. In condition the believer is being perfected. We are perfect in union, but God works to makes us perfect in communion.

Many times we are like the little boy that his mother had to discipline. They were sitting in a doctors office and he kept getting up from his seat. His mother told him to sit down. He would sit down for a while and then get back up. She said "Sit down right now." He said no. She grabbed him by both arms and sit him down and said, "Now you sit there and don't get up again. He looked at her and then said, "I may be sitting down on the outside, but I'm still standing up on the inside."

God works in us, to get out that jealously, envy, hatred, an unforgiving spirit, gossip, strife, bitterness, anger, and impurities of all sorts.

We also see that this miracle is a:

B. Work Of Spiritual Conformity

God not only wants for us clean lives, but conformed lives. He wants to purge from our lives all that is unlike the Saviour, and put in our lives all that is like the Saviour.

The story is told of a sculptor whose statue of a horse fascinated and caught the admiration of everyone. One day he was asked, "How did you take a ugly piece of stone and make such a beautiful image of a horse?" His answer: "I simply knocked away everything that did not look like a horse."

I think of an interesting statement made by Paul in Ephesians 5:1-2 "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour." The word "follower" means "to imitate. We are to be followers of God in verse one and as Christ in verse two. God's work in us has the purpose of producing this likeness in us. Paul declared in 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."

Thirdly, we see that this work is an:

3. INSISTENT WORK

Notice that that God will "perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." This work commenced with our salvation. This work continues with our consecration. This work will conclude with our glorification. This work will not end until Jesus returns and we are in eternity.

This work is a:

A. Constant Work In This Life

Sometimes we get the ideal that we at some stage in our life get to a point where we have spiritually arrived. Our attitude is, "God has made me! I'm spiritual!" But the plain, down right truth is, we never arrive and God will always be working on us and in us.

The person that has a heart for God will always be experiencing the hand of God. In this life we will never get to the place where we can't learn more, grow more, and be more. We will never get to the place where we don't have area's that don't need improving.

This work is also a:

B. Completed Work In The Next Life.

The word "perform" means "complete." God will work until He completes His plan and purpose for our life. Only when we stand before Him will that work be complete. There are two very interesting words that Paul uses in this text: the word "begun" and the word "perform." They were technical terms for the beginning and ending of a sacrifice. The words were used in connection with a Greek sacrifice. A torch was lit from fire on the altar and then dipped into a bowl of water to cleanse it with its sacred flame. The people would sprinkle themselves and the sacrifice with the purified water. Then what followed was called the euphemia, the sacred silence in which the worshipper would make his prayers to his god. A basket of barley would then be brought and some grains of the barley scattered on the sacrifice and on the ground around it. These actions were the beginning of the sacrifice. The term for this beginning was the verb Paul used.

The word for completing the whole ritual of sacrifice was the verb "perform" that Paul used. The ideal is that the believers life is a process of being a sacrifice to God and the work that God is doing in our life will cease, only when the sacrifice was completed.

For some people getting to heaven is going to be a major culture shock. It will be a major change. It will be a total alteration of the life they have been used to. But the ideal of God's work is that since we are going to be like His son one day, He is working to make us like His Son everyday.

John said in I 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." Only then will this work be complete.

Lastly, we see that this work is a:

4. INFINITE WORK

This is probably the most important point I will make. This work is God's work. Paul said, "That He." I've been saying all along that it is a work that God is doing, but I now place emphasis on the fact that it is a work HE is doing. This work is more than my efforts to clean up my life. It is His work. It is more than my efforts to conform my life. It is His work.

S.D. Gordon tells about an old Christian woman whose age began to tell on her memory. She had memorized much of the Bible by heart. But in time, only one precious bit stayed with her. That was, "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day." In time that small part had slipped to "that which I have committed unto Him." At last, it slipped to just "Him." As she neared the other shore, she kept repeating, "Him, Him, Him, Him." She had lost the whole Bible but one word. But in that one word she had the whole Bible.

We see that this work is:

A. According To His Plan

The work He does in each life is according to His plan for that life. His ways often vary from one person to the next. The reason being His plans vary from person to person. I think of the little song that I mentioned at the beginning. "He's still working on me. To make me what He wants me to be."

I think of Romans 8:28: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." His plan is being worked into our life. His plan is being carried out and made real in our life.

Amy Carmichael as a little brown eyed girl prayed that God would give her blue eyes. She even asked her mother to pray with her that God would give her blue eyes. Her mother said, "But honey, God gave you brown eyes. He wanted you to have brown eyes and He gave you brown eyes for a reason." Years later, while a missionary in India, Amy Carmichael realized the truth of her mothers words. When persecution broke out, the Christians were some of the first that were arrested. Amy Carmichael overheard a group of soldiers talking, "Get all the Christians, especially the Carmichael woman." One soldier asked, "How will we know her?" He was answered, "She is a foreigner. All foreigners have blue eyes. Look for everyone with blue eyes."

God has a plan and purpose for all that happens in our life. It is all a part of the work of His plan for our lives.

We also see that this work is:

B. Accomplished By His Power.

C. H. Spurgeon has so beautifully expressed it, "Give me not his garments, though I prize every thread, but the blessed wearer whose sacred energy made even the hem thereof to heal with a touch." It is His energy by which we are made whole.

Paul stated in Philippians 1:21, "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Paul declared the whole of His life was Christ. It was not just that Christ was the purpose of His life, but also the power of His life.

Paul declared in I Corinthians 1:30, "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:" Christ is our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption.

If we will let Him work in us, He will work in us.