Rev. Terry K. Anderson - He's Still Working On Me (Powerful Message)

Now we have come from across town to share with you tonight and there are some people from Lily Grove here tonight in addition to our magnificent choir and the final ushers who are here tonight, there are other members of Lily Grove. who are here would raise their hands so I can see who they are love love love thank you very much for being here thank you for your presence I want these people in the church that without walls to know that if you don't start anything It will be nothing that everyone who is not saved in Lily Grove so everyone better try to keep their mouths shut.

That's a word that I want to lift up in your audience that is found in Philippians in chapter number one in verse number six Philippians chapter 1. in verse 6. Do I look pretty in this thing here? I just want, I want to know if my hair is down from the modern English translation. I am sure of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it and complete it until the day. of Jesus Christ thank you can have your seats the grass withers and the flower withers because the word of our God will remain forever I want to thank my television members for watching at six in the morning they do not have time to watch your service, you have to look, you have to see me preach and then get ready to go to church here in the church without a wall, so you will miss your pastors preaching at 6:30.

So thank you for tuning in to the real preaching on Sunday morning I really want you to know I appreciate that I want to call this Remember the night He's

still

working

on me He's

still

working

on me I wonder how many of us tonight will honestly admit that we're a piece of work in progress. m I am not all that I should be, but I thank God, I am not what I used to be. He's still working on me. Paul greets these Philippian believers with a prayer of thanksgiving. He is grateful for the slightest memory of them. people who have proven to be a very special blessing to Paul in his ministry in the gospel Paul takes the time to tell them how much he appreciates their friendship appreciates how they have ministered to him sent him an offering met their need and then writes them a thank you note and he sends it to you through your epaphrodite emissary to tell you how much you appreciate having them in your life brothers and sisters tonight it is important to let people know when they have been a blessing to you. do not wait you should not let a moment pass you should not let a day pass if there is someone who has shown you kindness if it is someone who has meant a lot to your spiritual maturation if there has been someone who has given you a helping hand who has done something for you that someone who has gone out of their way to be nice to you shouldn't do, you should thank them while they can hear it.

I remember when Hurricane Katrina hit some people came from New Orleans. live in my house Reverend Freddie Dunn who is going to be with the Lord his His wife sister Ruth Dunn and two of her daughters and uh Miss Precious Clock and two of her daughters Six women came to live in my house and stayed with me and the Mrs. Dunn when they were getting ready to leave they stayed from September almost until the end of October and when they were getting ready to leave Mrs. Dunn called me into the studio where I was and put both hands on my shoulder and said Terry Look me in the eyes, she He said everything I have in this world is 10 feet under water, my mink coats, my bags, my shoes, my clothes, everything I own is 10 feet under water, he said we called and asked if we could come here and stay with you until we could return to New Orleans and without hesitation you let us come live in your house she said everything I have is gone she said you and your sister Gwen we had no clothes to wear we had no food I couldn't even get money out of the bank because all the banks in New Orleans were closed and all of our records were underwater.

You fed us and brought us purchased clothes. She said, "I'll probably get to heaven before you." She said I'm going to see my husband I'm going to see your mother and your father but more than that I'm going to see Jesus and I'm going to tell him how you treated me I was naked and you dressed me in the open air and you took me in I was hungry and you fed me and it wasn't many days after she left that her sister Dunn went to be with the Lord, but she expressed to me how much she appreciated what I had done for her and When I go back home to Louisiana, where I'm from, I mainly visit Graves now because almost all of my people are gone, but I walk around those graves in the cemetery and verbally thank those older people who meant a lot in my growing up years. because I can barely think of where or who I would be now if someone hadn't gone out of their way to be nice to me.

Paul takes the time to write you this letter and says that every time I think about it, every time you run. crosses my mind every time I remember you I thank you I thank God for you for your work for how you work with me in the Ministry of the gospel and then Paul encourages them in verse number six he says I am sure of this very thing that he who The good work began in you will be perfected will be completed until the day of Jesus Christ I want you to look with me brothers and sisters walk with me around the text and I want you to look with me first of all the confidence that belongs to the saints the confidence that belongs to the saints Paul uses a strong word to describe the hope you have in Jesus Christ the verb trust is in the perfect tense and actually refers to a subtle persuasion of mine that was continuing as a result of a crisis in the past that God has made future and has given you hope in the present.

Paul is telling these believers that he is exalting the fact that saints can have absolute assurance that they are saved, no doubt he wishes to emphasize, brothers and sisters, that their certainty is based on the creative and sustaining activity of God. The Bible literally overflows with verses that tell the believer that we can be sure that we are saved tonight. I'm sure I'm not shy. I'm not. evading I am not nervous I am not insecure I am confident that he who has begun a good work will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ I do not doubt my salvation I know that if I do not wake up in the morning when I open my eyes I will see Jesus Christ I know there is a poem waiting for me on the other side I know I'm confident I'm sure and I have no doubt that I'm saved and I need to tell someone here tonight that people should guess how old you are.

People should guess how much you weigh, but they shouldn't have to guess. If you are born again, you must have confidence. without looking at anyone you don't care what they say after finishing church if God has been good to you if God has opened the door for you if God has opened a way for you if God has written your name in the Book of the Lamb Life, what It may be necessary to express how glad you are to know that you are saved, it doesn't matter who you are sitting with, I don't care what they think, if God has saved you, have confidence that he who has started a good one will complete it to the day of Jesus Christ if you've traveled on our side of town um on 288 right around Blodgett and sophomore if you're on your cell phone if you're on 288 on blockchain and sophomore there's a dead spot in that area and if you're talking on the phone or you have your Bluetooth on your call will drop because there's a dead spot right there on 288 in Blodgett and sophomore, tonight at The Church Without Walls, it may be a dead spot. where you are sitting you are saved sanctified filled with the Holy Spirit and someone next to you could say you don't need all that you don't have to do all that you don't have to make all that noise the man I haven't said anything yet and you scream and scream, he still It hasn't come to an end and you're making all that noise, you may be at a dead end right in this church tonight, but you have my permission in the middle of this

message

to get up from where you're sitting, get away from those dead people and find someone.

Let him be confident, sure without a doubt that he who has begun the good work will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. The Bible is full of verses to give us confidence. first of John chapter 5 and verse 1. says everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God first of John 5 and 13 says these things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that know that you have eternal life second Corinthians 5 and 17 says therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creature all things are passing away and behold all things have become new Romans chapter 5 and verse number one says because being justified by faith we have peace for with God through our Lord Jesus Christ Romans chapter 8 and verse number one says there is no longer condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit.

I will let nothing separate me from the love of God because we know that all things work together for good for those who love God and those who are called according to his purpose. I am sure that he who began the good word will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ the brethren. It is not in my power. in God but it is God's control over me that makes the difference in my salvation. I don't trust my goodness. I don't trust my character. I don't trust my story. I don't trust my ability to persevere, but I am confident. in God one of my favorite hymns is Blessed assurance Jesus is mine oh what a harbinger of divine Glory I am an heir of salvation I am purchased by God born of his spirit and washed in his blood perfect submission all is at rest happy and blessed I am watching and waiting looking up full of his goodness lost in his love this is my story this is my song I'm praising my savior all day long I'm sure that he who has started a good work will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ I'm not nervous about it No I have doubts about that I don't always look saved I don't always act saved I don't always look saved I don't always feel saved but thank God My salvation is not based on how I talk, how I feel, how I look, my salvation is based on the fact that Christ died to free me.

I am trying to overcome this so I can have fellowship with my young people. friend Ralph um but let me make you blush here at The Church Without Walls like the blush that Lily Grove ever committed I enjoy come on help me brother because there's no point in sinning if you're not going to enjoy myself I started preaching at 18. I pastored at 20. I never had a young adult life, so I had to commit all my sins in church. Someone should help me preach here. I had to commit all my sins in church. I was never in clubs.

I never smoked. I've never been drunk. I've never liked being out of control of my environment, so I've always been in control of myself, so I never had the opportunity to do a lot of young adult things and I envy that. I wish I had had the opportunity to do that, but I have been a preacher most of my life longer than I have not been I have been a preacher I have been a pastor longer than I have not been and every sin I committed in church I enjoy now just as I enjoyed my sin I enjoy my salvation and I'm not going to let you or anyone dictate to me how I should thank God for my salvation wish I had one or two other believers here, if you don't like the noise I'm making go sit down Elsewhere, if waving my hand gets on your nerves, find a dead place to sit, but I came here tonight. purpose of telling God thank you for saving me thank you for freeing me thank you for writing my name in the Lamb's Book of Life thank you for going to the Cross dying in me he took my place and I came here tonight with the purpose of giving God my best Hallelujah, my best thanks Jesus, my best praise to the Lord, I am confident that he who has begun the good word will complete it and perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ.

That is the confidence of the Saints, but the confidence of the Holy brothers and sisters is based on commitment. of the savior is right here in the text I am sure of this very thing that he Jesus who began as a good worker we all know what God did for us the day he saved us but what we fail in what we fail our brothers and sisters by considering the fact that our salvation began long before we realized it, as much as I did about the fact that Christ went to the cross and died in my place in a temporal space time and relationship in the universe.

As I celebrate what He did on the cross I celebrate even more that He did it before I knew it He saved me before I knew I needed to be saved Let me see if I can help us with that Jeremiah chapter 31 and verse 3 says I have loved you with love eternal. He chose us in Christ and prepared a savior for us before the world was formed. Hear the same faith we needed to trust him. He gave us Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 and 9, it says, "By grace let us go." Help me quote it here you are saved by faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works but any man should boast s our good works have not resulted in Salvation but our good works come from salvation you cannot work your way to heaven you can never be good enough because when will you know when you are good enough?

You can't sing enough You can't pray enough You can't preach enough Salvation is everything Grace is thegift of God so that no man should promote our good works no no no no no no no save us but we work because we have been saved uh brothers and sisters the same God who began this good work is capable of carrying it out he will finish it this our God is capable of completing it is capable of achieving it and if we trust in him he will keep us until the day of redemption he is faithful to his promises and he is faithful to his purposes FB Meyer says that we are sure that the work that his grace has begun the arm of his strength will be completed let me say that for you one more time FB Meyer says we are sure that the work that is grace has begun the arm of his strength will be completed the Holy Spirit never loses sight of the end of his work his work will not be finished until That which has made us like Jesus, will continue to work in us until it has made us presentable enough to pass with praise the final test of judgment and fit to walk into the presence of God and stand firm.

Jesus whom God sent to save us so that when we walk with Jesus in heaven the Angels cannot tell the difference ah brothers and sisters Judas says it like this now to the one who is he to keep you from falling and present you You are impeccable in the presence of his glory with great joy you are here tonight not because you have been dieting and exercising you are here tonight not because you have been going to the doctor and following your prescription you are here tonight Not because you have read the Bible and kept the commandments of the Lord so tightly.

Jesus Christ, through his holy spirit, is able to keep us and present us blameless even in our sinful flesh. Now let me help someone tonight. Am I born again? I never die or sin, but I sin in my flesh every day, talk to me if you can. Do you hear who are so holy that you answer your phone? Praise the Lord and you two, blessed for being stressed and blessed. and very favored and come, talk to me again if you can. Do you know some people like that? You hate to talk to them because they are so ultra spiritual that if they take off their coat or dress you can see their wings because They are so pure and so Chase, but there are some of us here, about three or four hundred here, who don't mind testifying. that some days I wake up on the wrong side of the bed, sometimes I'm just full.

I don't want to talk about hell I don't want to talk I don't want to do the right thing I know what the right thing is I don't want to do what the Bible says I don't want to live well but then the Holy Spirit constrains us and brings us back to our senses because in our flesh we sin but thank you God his Spirit keeps us that when we come to church he revives our soul again I cannot testify for you I can only be a witness for myself that I need the Lord every day I need him to keep my mind keep my heart I wish I had two or three Witnesses here I want the Lord to continue working in me and I want you Christians here to be patient with me God I am not done with me yet, be patient with you, listen every time you see a person fall, do not judge them because you do not know how long they tried to stay standing and maybe if you had been walking in his shoes, you could have fallen for a long time. time before someone helps me preach it every time you point the finger at someone the scripture says Brethren, if a man is caught in a transgression, you who are spiritual, restore him in a spirit of meekness, considering yourselves so that he does not be caught in the same fault.

Salvation is not based on what I do, it is based on what has already been done for me. Christ did it for me. Christ died for me and his commitment to me keeps me safe. That is the trust that the saint has based on the commitment of the savior. expanded by the comfort that the Scriptures give us our brothers and sisters listen to me there is comfort in knowing that this earthly life will not last forever the day will come when the saints of God will leave this world with all its dangers all its difficulties, all its sorrows , this will all end after a while, you will hear who is over 50 years old.

He can help me and Ralph testify. I remember when our hair was black, when we were thin and handsome, before everyone used all the beauty. outside of us when we were young and vibrant, full of life and energy, but now Ralph and I and many of you here tonight are over 50 years old. And you can help me testify to that when you are over 50 when you wake up in the morning. you sound like a bowl of rice krispies snapping crunching and popping if it's not your shoulder it's your knee if it's not your knee it's your elbow someone should help me talk it out you get out of bed and stand up and your feet hurt and they don't you've been walking all night I need someone over 50 to help me scream here you're looking for your car keys and in your hand you're looking for your glasses and you have them on, you walk into the room and say what in the blank space that I come in here because someone should help me talk because there is a leak in this building someone will help me close here in a minute and sooner or later my soul has to move, I wish I had one or two witnesses here.

I get tired of the ugly words of people in church. Come on, tell me some of the most hurtful things that have ever been said about you, and people who go to church have told me some of the things. the meanest people in Houston belong to the Church Without Walls some of the nastiest people in Texas sing in the Lily Grove choir some of the ugliest actors in the world go to church every Sunday morning if there was a bus full he's going to hell he could pick up his first load at church I'm tired of people lying to me I'm tired of people criticizing me I'm doing my best and it's not appreciated someone will help me speak up here I'm giving God my best sermon and they say he could have done better than that you sing your best song and they said it was too loud you could have tone it down you come to church and you're just trying to give glory to God I've had hell all week.

Hell in your family. A disaster at your job. A supervisor who is not good. A silly boy. A crazy husband or wife. Don't you get tired of that? Yes, illness, stress, heart attacks, fights, tension, don't you get tired? that medicine intravenous vaccines doctor appointments funeral homes cemeteries I'm getting tired of that young man Pastor talked about a moment ago surprised by some fool here in Houston for no good reason I saw it on the news this morning babies too small burned one of them was burned abandoned in the house by a mother and father another child was beaten to death two years old I'm tired of it I'm sick of women being raped and young children sexually assaulted I'm sick of black people being beaten and shot by the police I'm tired of white people trampling on us and black people trampling on us.

Someone should help me talk here because sometimes the problem doesn't come from outside, the problem is in our own home. I'm tired. I am fed up with the world and the disorder it has become, but one of these days I am confident that the one who began the good work in me will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. I am going to my seat, but not on that day of Jesus Christ. is talking about judgment because my judgment was handled at Calvary I need someone to help me close right here when I stand before God brothers and sisters I am going to be confident not in my story not in my goodness but confident that what Jesus did in a once and for all he will bring me before the father without stain or defect I need someone to help me close right here I know that one day when I appear before God it will not be for the sins I committed because he nailed my sins to the cross, the ordinances written to hand in Colossians they say they were against me, he nailed them to the cross and the hammer he used doesn't have a claw on the end so you can take those sins off the cross. cross because he will never judge me for sin again because that would be double jeopardy in the court of law you can't be tried twice for the same crime that's double jeopardy when I stand before God it won't be about my sins because Jesus paid for my sins on the cross, but when I stand before God, I will get my reward because I carried my burden.

In the heat of the dead. I have worked in the church my entire life. I have given God the best. service I have tried to live a Christian life I have tried to be a godly preacher and pastor I have made some mistakes I have done some things right and some things wrong but I still thank God for calling me I still thank God for calling me except. I still thank God because every Sunday he is pleased to use me. I am not everything I should be and I am not yet what I am going to be, but I thank God.

I'm not what some of you who were raised in the church used to be. I need someone who was raised in the church to remember when those old deacons would get on their knees and we would go home and pray just like we heard them pray because they said the same prayer every morning. I wish I had someone raised in the church who could help me close right here, they said, "My Lord, here I am, kneeling and with my body bound, with my face bowed to the mother's dust and my heart lifted up." To the throne of grace, thank you that the bed I lay on was not my cooling bowl.

I wish I had someone raised in the church and the kivers I lay in were not my wind and blanket, thank you for a reasonable share of my health and stress, thank you that when I woke up this morning you touched me with a finger of love and my My eyes opened wide and I beheld a new day, a day I had never seen before and a day I will never see again. and we used to laugh at those prayers and we used to go home and make fun of them for those prayers, but now that some of us are over 50, we kneel down and say now Lord, I want to thank you that the bed I made was not my refreshing bowl .

I want to thank you for a reasonable portion of my health and strength. Anyone here? No problems, they don't last forever. It's a mess in this world right now, but I'm going home to be with the Lord. that is a problem all over Houston right now, but that is a silver lining, somewhere there are conflicts in your family that are hurting in your relationships, but after a while it will all end, the scriptures give us the assurance that we know that when this Earthly House of this Tabernacle is dissolved we have another building, a house not made with hands but Eternal in the heavens.

You are going to help me close this. Do not let your heart be troubled. If you believe in God, also leave Me in the House. of many of My Father's mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you, I will prepare a place for you and if I go, I will return and receive you with me. You will help me close this, won't you soon? I will end the problems of this world I am going home to live with God Is there anyone here confident tonight that he who began a good work will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ?

Is there anyone here who knows that your name is in the Book of the Lamb? of Life if the Lord has been good to you and you don't mind testifying if God has opened the door for you and you don't care who looks at you if God has opened a way for you and you are not ashamed to testify Why don't you grab someone? Why don't you shake someone's hand? Tell him I know what I know and who I believe in and that he can keep it. Come on, tell someone else they can keep what I entrusted them with.

You're going to help me talk about him. Won't you say his name too much? But let me say his name before I take my seat right now. I haven't said his name much, but I feel like calling him by his name right now. I'm going to help me pronounce his name. I want to pronounce his name. He is the Redeemer of Adam. He is a capable vindicator. It is Abraham's sacrifice. It's Noah's Ark. Moses Bush on fire. I know him, right? Joshua's battle axe. It's Gideon's fleece. It is the power of Samson. David's music. It is the wisdom of Solomon.

Everyone knows him, don't they? He is the only son of God, his marriage, child, he is the older brother of James and Judas, he is the king of Matthew, the simulated suffering servant, the great doctor of Luke. , the word of John made flesh, acts coming from the Holy Spirit, the only begotten of the father, you all know it. he is not like that? He is a rock and a weary earth, He is a refuge in stone times, He is a friend when you are friendly, bad when you are hungry, but when you are fasting, why don't you grab someone, you say to your neighbor .

I know it for myself I know it I know it I know it I know it's okay Excuse me Trust No walls I have to tell you my testimony one more time The doctor said I would be dead in two hours, that was three years ago and he said if I live I would have to go to a nursing home but here I am tonight dressed and in my right mind with a reasonable portion of my health and strength and if you don't mind help me tell God thank you come on tell him thank you man thank you for everything you have done for me thank you for the many ways you have been thank you for the many doors you open thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you I know he is okay