Sermon: Joy In Christ

March 19, 2008 Wed. Evening Service
Series: Joy In Christ - Part 1

Philippians 1 - Joy In Christ

Philippians 1:1-26

1 Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
2 Grace [be] unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and [from] the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,
5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;
6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform [it] until the day of Jesus Christ:
7 Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace.
8 For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.
9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and [in] all judgment;
10 That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ;
11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
12 But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things [which happened] unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;
13 So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other [places];
14 And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
15 Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:
16 The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:
17 But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.
18 What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.
19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
20 According to my earnest expectation and [my] hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but [that] with all boldness, as always, [so] now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether [it be] by life, or by death.
21 For to me to live [is] Christ, and to die [is] gain.
22 But if I live in the flesh, this [is] the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.
23 For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
24 Nevertheless to abide in the flesh [is] more needful for you.
25 And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;
26 That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.

Introduction

The theme of the book of Philippians is joy in Christ. According to my Greek dictionary, joy means "cheer," "great gladness" and "calm delight" - as in cheerful contentment. These qualities are not present in many lives and perhaps many churches. Paul is going to instruct us on how to have joy in Christ. Everything we read will tie back, in some way, to having joy in our Christian lives.

Filippoi is a municipality (we might call it a county or a parish) in northern Greece. In ancient times it was known as Philippi, named for King Philip, the father of Alexander the Great. The Apostle Paul first visited Philippi in his second missionary tour, and of course the Bible mentions several interesting events that took place there including the conversion and baptism of Lydia, the exorcism of a demon, and the salvation of the Philippian jailer. Philippi was the first place in Europe to have the Apostle Paul come and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Philippi was the home of a church or churches who had worked closely with Paul. Now it was about 10 years later, and Paul was in a Roman jail. The church was greatly concerned over him. They still supported him and had contact with him, and in turn he was inspired to write to them and give them a heart to heart talk on how to have joy and contentment in life and in their churches. Notice the lesson in what God did: he used a person in miserable circumstances (jail) to tell Christians how to experience joy and contentment. That's something that everyone wants, and a man in Paul's condition is the ideal person to look to for guidance. If he's in jail but he's joyful, he can be considered an expert.

The letter is addressed to all the saints in Philippi, along with the bishops (pastors) and the deacons. It was sent in the name of the servants (slaves) of Jesus Christ - Paul and also pastor Timothy, who was apparently Paul's closest friend. After the usual greeting in which the Apostle wishes God's continued grace and peace on the congregations - something no Christian can live without - Paul immediately begins to talk his prayers for the Philippians.

Let's look at Paul's words, keeping in mind that everything he says must fit the overall theme of the book, which is joy and contentment in Christ.

I. Paul's prayer (3-11).

A. Paul said he prayed for the church members at Philippi.

He thanked God every time he remembered them.
Every time he prayed for them he felt joy because of their fellowship in the gospel.
Paul thanked God for these people, he prayed for them, and he prayed with joy because of their fellowship (which also means participation) in the Gospel.

B. As he prayed, he said he was confident that God (who had saved the Philippians and established them in the faith) would continue to work in their lives and in their churches until the day of or the return of Jesus Christ.

He said it was proper for him to have these feelings because they were in his heart.
They had been partakers in his defense and confirmation (or establishment) of the Gospel, and they had even helped him while he was in jail, so they were in his heart. He longed to see them.

C. Keeping in mind that Paul is writing to offer inspired instructions on gaining joy and contentment in Christ, we can make several observations.

We may say first of all that it is proper to remember and pray for our brethren, whether they are in our church or a far away mission or a sister church.
It's proper to remember our brethren with joy because of their participation in our great work of the Gospel ministry.
It's proper to maintain confidence in our brethren, that God will continue to bless and establish them until the return of Christ or to the ends of their physical lives, whichever comes first.
It's proper to desire the fellowship of the brethren.

D. Here then, is a way to gain joy and contentment.

We start as Paul did by going to work with the brethren. Participate, as Paul did with the Philippians, in the work of the Gospel. Get involved in your church on the inside and the outside. If you don't know what you can do on the inside, you definitely know what you can do once you leave the sanctuary, and that's to live and preach Jesus.
I said to live and preach Jesus. While it's true that our life is the only Bible some people will read, it's also true that no one has ever been saved by looking at me or you. Yes, they can decide against Christ by the things we do, but they don't get saved by observation. It's not enough to live a Christian life. Jesus must be preached. If he's not, we could question whether we're really living a complete life of a disciple. Participate in the Gospel as a church member. Build a working relationship with your brethren. Get to know these saved sinners and work with them. Allow your heart to be penetrated by love of the brethren. That's the first step.
Be confident that God will continue to work in the lives of His churches and the people in them. And this may call for an attitude adjustment. If it does, then adjust. It's not always easy to have confidence in people, but notice that Paul didn't say he was confident in the Philippians. He said in verse 6 that he was confident that God would finish what He started in these people. There will be times and many times when we might not have confidence in some of our wayward brethren. There will be times and many times when we have some godly sorrow and displeasure over their actions or behavior or disappearance from the Lord's work, but we must develop the confidence that - somehow - God is going to intervene and set them back on the path of growing up as a Christian.
When that's accomplished, then pray for us. I hear people talking about how they love to pray and they pray for a long time. They spend a lot of time with the Lord. I hear a lot of talk about people who are prayer warriors. I have a hard time praying, and what I mean is that it's not easy for me. I can't sit and pray for 3 hours. I'm a person who prays every day and at different times throughout the day, but I don't know if I could be called a prayer warrior like otherpeople. But...it doesn't require all that much to thank God for the people with whom you serve and tell Him you're thankful.
Paul prayed for several things. He prayed for the love of the people to abound in knowledge and judgment. He wanted them to be able to be sincere and without offense, filled with the fruits (or labors) of righteousness. It took me about five seconds to say that, and it wouldn't take a great deal of time to pray that for our brethren.
Paul did all these things, and it was a source of joy and contentment to him. It was a source of joy and contemned during hard times. You can't get much worse off than being in a Roman jail. How is your working relationship with your brethren? Do you labor together? Do you have confidence that God will continue to bless your brethren? Do you thank God for them and pray for them? In his trials, Paul found joy in this, and it's in the Scriptures to be learned and imitated.

II. Paul's circumstances (12-26).

A. The church (or churches)...let's just say the people of Philippi...had worked closely with Paul and they supported him in his work and also physically. When he was imprisoned, he had many friends who were quite concerned. Paul explained to them that their concern was (I think) understandable and appreciated, but he wanted them to know what had happened as the result of his incarceration.

B. The result of his spending time in jail was that his bonds in Christ (his Christian faith) were clearly seen in the Roman palace and every other place. People in Caesar's household were getting the Gospel.

Many of the brethren at Rome had seen this success and they became bold enough to preach without fear.
Some were doing it out of envy and strife. It appears that they were preaching the true Gospel, but they did it insincerely and with contention (that's putting themselves or their own agenda first). They were actually preaching in the attempt to get Paul into even more trouble. That lets us know we can preach and teach correctly but insincerely, something we don't want to do.
Others were preaching Christ out of love, sincerely desiring the salvation of souls.
Paul said the result of this was that he rejoiced and continued to rejoice because whether it was sincere or insincere, Christ was preached.

C. He said that because of this he was confident in the prayers of the Philippians that he would be released. And he continued on saying that either way, whether he lived or died, Christ would be magnified by his body, or life.

To Paul, to live was Christ and to be alive in the body was to produce fruit and give labor in the service of Christ.
Even to die was gain, so much so that Paul had a problem.
He wanted to labor for Christ but he also wanted to be with Christ. That was much better, but it involved death.
I wonder how many Christians really have this attitude? To live is Christ and to produce fruit for the kingdom. To die is gain. It's to be with Christ, and it's much better. How many Christians actually have the problem of wanting to labor for Christ in the flesh, but also wanting to be with Him in the spirit, which would involve physical death? One preacher said, "Everybody wants to go to heaven, but not one of us wants to go right now." I suspect that not many Christians are as spiritually mature as Paul was.
Anyway, he decided that to continue to live was the more important thing because it was needful for the Philippians. He was confident that he would eventually be released and go to them so that they would rejoice and have joy.

D. What does Brother Paul say to the Christian about gaining joy?

He was in jail, the people were worried, but he was rejoicing over the fact that Christ was being preached and would be magnified whether he lived or died.
The key to this one is found in this statement: But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things [which happened] unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel (v.12).
Paul had developed an understanding that many Christians don't or flat out reject. This goes beyond Paul's immediate circumstances. This goes far beyond the fact that he was in jail. It goes beyond the fact that the Gospel was preached. Paul understood that the things that happened to him had a higher purpose. Many Christians don't understand that one.
The things that happened to Paul fell out to the furtherance of the Gospel. His circumstances were part of a greater plan so that the Gospel would be preached in Rome.
But the greater point is that everything that happens in the life of a Christian is part of a greater plan. If you can just absorb that fact and make it a part of you, you're going to be able have joy in spite of circumstances. The bad thing is that we don't know the mind of God. He sees the beginning and the end. He knows the plan and I don't know the plan. When part of the plan involves things in my life that I don't like, I have a problem. If I don't realize that He's in control and whatever is going on with me will fall out to be a part of some plan He has, then I'm not going to be a happy camper. I'm not going to have joy. If I learn and get it fixed in my mind - like Paul - that it's part of something bigger, better, and greater for me, then I will have joy.
When something happens, something negative, what is the first thing in your mind? Why me? Oh no? Why on earth is this happening to us? Can you replace that with this thought - "It's part of God's plan and it's going to work out for my good." I think you can, and I think when you pray you should ask God to bring that to your mind.

Illustration
I had a friend whose kidneys were failing. He had to go to Dallas and he was in danger of death because of a long transplant list. He told me about long waits in the doctor's office, just sitting with other suffering people. What would you do in his position? Here was this man's thought: God must have needed my kidneys to fail so he could get somebody to witness to those poor people in that waiting room. He lived to tell that tale and he's okay today. But he had joy then even though his kidneys were trying to quit, just because he knew he was part of a bigger plan. We can do that too.

Conclusion

Although I didn't say it this way, this message can be summed up in two simplified statements:

A working relationship with Christian brethren is a source of joy.
An understanding of the reason for trouble is a source of joy.