Confidence in Spite of Adversity

Paul prayed for the Philippians. What is the outcome? It brings Paul renewed confidence - not confidence in himself, nor confidence in the Philippians but confidence in God. Philippians 1:6 says, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

The word, “confident,” in Greek, means to be persuaded. If Paul had any doubts before, now he is persuaded that God isn’t going to give up on any of us who are His. There is no possibility of failure with God. We can have complete confidence - confidence that what God started in us, He will complete it. No circumstances of life can thwart Him.

But, what did God start in us? Salvation! The word translated “complete it” in the New King James version, or perfect it in the New American Standard version, is an interesting word. It is the Greek word, epi-teleo. The preposition epi strengthens the word teleo . And the word teleo means complete. It doesn’t mean to just get it done, but to super complete it. There is no possibility of failure when God has the process under control.

Romans 8:28-29 shows God’s plan for our lives. It says:

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Not that all things are good, certainly not, but God uses everything for good - God uses everything to accomplish His purpose in our lives. God has predestined it. And God’s purpose for every believer is for us to become like Jesus. That’s the end of the process.

But what does it mean to be “glorified?” That’s what takes place in heaven when we receive our new glorified bodies like that of Jesus. We don’t get them until heaven, but that’s God’s whole purpose for us. He has called us and predestined us to be with Him in heaven fully complete and transformed into the image of His Son Jesus. There is no way that God can fail in this.

Scripture teaches this truth? Ephesians 1:4 starts the process in eternity past in the mind of God by saying, “Just as He [God the Father] chose us in Him [In Jesus Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.”

But it isn’t just God’s choice in eternity past, God actively draws us to Himself. Jesus tells us in John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.” The Father draws us through the tug of the Holy Spirit on our hearts convicting us of sin and leading us to Christ.

And once we are in Christ, we never get away. Jesus assures us this in: John 6:37-40:

37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

And it will go on “until the day of Christ.” It doesn’t end until we are glorified. 1st John 3:2 says: “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” Praise God!

To assure that we can’t get away, God gives us His Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1:13-14 assures us:

13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

The point is: for God’s elect, God made a plan to save us, and God carries out that plan. As it says in Acts 16:14 about Lydia, the seller of purple, who was Paul’s first convert in Philippi. “Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.” Who opened her heart? God did! Salvation is God’s work in our hearts. And God completes what He starts.

And it’s all because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross when He removed the penalty of our sin. We come to God clothed in the garments of sin, spiritually starving, and sick unto death, and God receives us as His children. He receives us as if we have never sinned, and He clothes us in His own perfect righteousness. As our Great Physician, He knows we are ill, and He know how to fix us. He gives us His Spirit to live within us and to strengthen us and to guide us. God doesn’t start that work in us to abandon us.

Do you see? God has a plan for you. William Hendrickson, the great commentator, said, “God…is not like men. Men conduct experiments, but God carries out a plan. God never does anything by halves.”

Galatians 3:3 teaches this: “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” Of course not!

It is easy to get discouraged if we focus on the day-to-day activities and failures we experience. Sometimes, it doesn’t seem like all that much is happening. But God is at work. We need to focus, not on the details, but on the big picture, and the big picture is that God has a plan - God is in control – God is at work in you! God is doing a good work in you that the circumstances of life cannot thwart.

As F.B. Meyer wrote:

“We go into the artist’s studio and find there unfinished pictures covering large canvases, and suggesting great designs, but which have been left, either because the genius was not competent to complete the work, or because paralysis laid the hand low in death; but as we go into God’s great workshop we find nothing that bears the mark of haste or insufficiency of power to finish, and we are sure that the work which His grace has begun, the arm of His strength will complete.”

That’s the point of Philippians 1:6 – “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” That should fill our hearts with a warm glow. If God has saved us, God will glorify us. Nothing can stop the process once it’s begun.
Is there any better reason for joy? That’s why Paul could sit under arrest and talk about joy. Those people he had led to Christ, he can be assured of. God will finish the process and bring them on home to heaven.

And for himself? God was still on the throne and still at work. God was using the things in his life for a purpose. He didn’t need to fret or worry. He could rejoice in that. He could rejoice in the fellowship he had with God. And he could rejoice in the fellowship he had with those he loved in Philippi. He could be filled with joy.

And so can you. Are you filled with joy? Are you rejoicing in your fellowship with God and with one another? You can be.