“BEING JOYFUL!” PHILIPPIANS 4: 4-13, 19.
PHILIPPIANS 4: 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-13, 19.
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO PHILIPPIANS 4.
No society on earth has ever enjoyed such material wealth as ours. King Solomon could not use a thermostat to control the temperature in his palace to within a single degree of comfort. Emperor Kublai Khan could not travel hundreds of miles in a day in an air-conditioned car entertained by his favorite music from a CD player. Youths not yet out of their teens have more money to spend than their grandparents ever dreamed of.
Yet even with all this wealth, we are not happier than other generations and cultures. Suicide ranks as one of the two leading causes of teenage deaths. Millions of people numb themselves into insensitivity to the pain of life with alcohol and other drugs.
Our affluence---the envy of the world---cannot protect us from the agony of grief. We know the pain of children gone astray. Failure in marriage or business digs its claws into our souls. Temptation tugs at us like a magnet, and we know the reality of moral failure.
Affluence does not provide the peace and joy for which the human soul yearns. How can we find joy in difficult circumstances? How can we find joy in success and affluence? Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi speaks of joy whatever our circumstances.
In our study of Paul’s letters to the five churches we are seeing how we can be the victor rather than the victim of circumstances. We can exercise our freedom in Christ appropriately by consistently using principles of spiritual warfare that Paul used, in our daily struggles and then live joyfully in ever circumstance. You may ask, “How can I know the joy in the midst of difficult circumstances?” The answer is that by trusting God, believers can experience real joy even in the midst of trying circumstances.
Paul had learned that one may have perfect peace in a troubled world if one will (1) Worry about nothing, (2) Pray about all things, (3) Be thankful for everything, (4) Think on the best things, (5) Do the right things, and (6) Rejoice always.
PLEASE READ PHILIPPIANS 4: 4-5.
At the very beginning of our study on joy, let’s remember where Paul was when he wrote the Book of Philippians---he was in prison in Rome! Here was a man whose outward circumstances were far from happy, yet he could say rejoice. Paul was not giving good advice that he was not following. Paul could speak from experience. Paul had experienced all sorts of trying circumstances, yet he could still speak out of those experiences and say, Rejoice! It is the prevailing mood of his life.
How could Paul write of joy when his life stood in such mortal peril? Paul did not command his readers to be happy. The word happy comes from the Middle English word happe, meaning “luck” or “good fortune.” The word happen comes from the same word. People are happy when they consider the things that happen to them to be lucky or fortunate. Happiness, in other words, depends on outer circumstances. Instead of calling the Philippians to happiness, Paul called them to joy in the Lord. Whereas happiness flows from outer circumstances, joy comes from an inner conviction that God is working in our lives even in the worst circumstances and from our relationship with Jesus Christ.
The words joy and rejoice are found through out this short letter. The Keynote, however, is Rejoice in the Lord. Paul issued this command in Phil. 3:1. Then he again in Phil. 4:4, repeated the word rejoice twice. The source of Christian joy is our relationship with the God of joy. Those who come to know the Lord find true joy.
Closely related to finding joy in the Lord is finding joy in other Christians. Paul’s relationship with the Philippians was a source of joy. Vs. 5 seems to address this issue. Moderation is the opposite of selfishly demanding one’s rights. Rejoicing in the Lord called for rejoicing in one another.
How could Paul rejoice? Paul could rejoice because his rejoicing was in the Lord In the same way, we are to rejoice in the Lord, knowing that our joy is not grounded in the things of the world. Our joy is grounded in its source: Jesus Christ. We are in Christ, Christ is in us, and His continual presence should give us joy. It doesn’t matter what the world throws at us, we have someone greater in our lives, filling us, loving us, giving us peace, and reminding us that our position in Christ will far outlast these momentary troubles.
To “rejoice in the Lord” does not mean that a man is to be insensible to sorrow and distress, to suffering and to sin, either in his own life, or in the lives about him: but it does mean that these dark realities will not be allowed to master him or to blind him to the radiance which streams from the face of His living Lord.
Faith in Christ and obedience to Him are the sources of abiding joy. Blessed are those who realize that true joy cannot be found aside from Him and His holy will. Blessed too, are those who have discovered “the sacred duty of being happy,” and who are “seeking with divine aid to rejoice in the Lord always.”
That is also why we can rejoice always. No matter the circumstances, we also can find that inner joy because of the presence of our living Lord in our lives. Circumstances change, but the presence of Christ in our lives never changes.
This attitude is so important that Paul immediately restated it: “I will say it again: Rejoice.” Any command of Scripture, even if it is only stated once, should certainly be obeyed, simply because it is a command from God. When it is commanded twice in immediate succession, though, it should really catch our attention!
Shalah lives in extreme circumstances because her Muslim husband cast her out when she became a Christian, yet she rejoices in Jesus, her Lord.
Closely related to finding joy in the Lord is finding joy in other Christians. Paul’s relationship with the Philippians was a source of joy. As we rejoice in the Lord, we are to let our graciousness be known to everyone. The Greek word translated graciousness means “generosity of spirit,” “fairness that goes beyond justice,” and “mildness.” Moderation is the opposite of selfishly demanding one’s rights. Rejoicing in the Lord called for rejoicing in one another. We can be generous to others in our difficult circumstances only out of a relationship with Jesus Christ.
PLEASE READ PHILIPPINES 4: 6-7.
F.B. Meyer gives this outline for vs. 6: “(1) Be anxious for nothing. (2) Be prayerful about everything, and (3) Be thankful for everything.” Paul gave us a negative command: “Don’t worry about anything” Worry can certainly kill joy. Worry focuses on the problem or situation: joy focuses on the solution: Jesus Christ. As long as we focus on the situation, worry will consume our joy. We can let worry lead us to focus on many things instead of the one main thing: Jesus.
The verb and sentence structure Paul used for don’t worry indicates that worry was a continual habit for the Philippians. The command called for them-----and us---to cease continuing in habitual worry. This command applies universally. We are not to worry about anything. The Greek language is strong. We are not to worry about even one thing.
The way to remove something negative is to replace it with something positive. In this case, we replace worry with prayer. We are to let our requests be made known to God. When we pray, we must always remember three things. We must remember the love of God; which ever seeks and desires only what is best for us.
We must remember the wisdom of God, which alone knows what is best for us. We must remember the power of God, which alone can bring to pass that which is best for us. He who prays with a perfect belief and trust in the love, the wisdom and the power of God will find God’s peace. The result of believing prayer is that the peace of God will stand like a sentinel on guard upon our hearts. The peace of God, says Paul, passes understanding.
The peace of God is so precious that man’s mind, with all its skill and all its knowledge and all it’s understanding, can never contrive it or find it or produce it. It is utterly and entirely beyond man’s ability to obtain by himself. This peace can never be of man’s contriving: it is only of God’s giving.
The way to peace is to take ourselves and all whom we hold dear, to take all life, and to place them and ourselves and it trustingly in prayer in the hands of God.
We express our requests to God through prayer and petition. Petition in particular refers to requests to God about our own personal needs. Paul emphasized personal petition because it is typically our own needs that cause us to worry.
The truth is, however, that we can pray all day but still worry. The key element is to pray with thanksgiving. As we pray, we are to thank God for answering the request even before we see the answer. We can’t express this attitude of gratitude unless we believe God will answer. And if we believe God will answer, then there’s no point in worrying about it! True thanks giving in our hearts requires trust in the One to whom we are praying. When we trust, we don’t need to worry.
The result of lifting our needs to God in prayer and thanking Him for taking care of the needs is that we will experience the peace of God. We might think of peace in terms of the common definition of the absence of conflict, but God’s peace overrides any internal conflict we may be experiencing. Peace is, literally, the binding with another. When we experience God’s peace, we experience a oneness with God.
This peace is, first of all, divine. It is the peace of God. Its one and only source is God Himself, the author of peace. We cannot conceive of peace apart from God’s presence in our lives. We by our own ingenuity, cannot generate the kind of peace He gives.
Second, it is a peace which surpasses our understanding. It’s not a peace that is totally beyond our comprehension, but it does excel over knowledge. There are times when we want answers, but there aren’t any to be found. God, why is this happening to me? There are some things we can’t explain. Sometimes we’re given explanations, but those explanations still do not comfort us. Even in those times, we find comfort in God’s peace. Knowledge may satisfy the mind, but only God’s peace can satisfy the heart. A person may know he doesn’t need to worry, but only God’s peace in his heart will sustain him.
God’s peace sustains us by guarding our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. Guard is a military term, and peace stands as a sentinel watching to keep anything out that would lead us to worry. The peace of God guards our hearts. Throughout Scripture the heart is considered the center of one’s personality.
Our minds are also watched over by God’s peace because the mind is the source of our thoughts and thus the source of willful worry. We cannot fend off worry with our minds. Our hearts are often fickle and can’t be trusted. The only way we can experience peace in our hearts and minds is to experience the peace of God, and we can only experience that in Christ Jesus.
When we trust God with our needs, we experience a peace that the world cannot understand, because it is a peace found only in Christ Jesus.
PLEASE READ PHILIPPIANS 4: 8-9.
In addition to praying, there is one other thing we can do. We can fill our minds with the right things, the things of God. God guards our minds, but we are responsible for what we put in our minds. The human mind will always set itself on something, and Paul wished to be quite sure that the Philippians would set their minds on the right things.
Paul outlined several qualities, all of which should describe the things about which we think. No, more than just thinking about these things, we are to dwell on these things. Dwelling carries the idea of the place where we reside. It’s the place we consider our permanent home. I stay in a hotel room, but I dwell at my home.
The qualities Paul outlined are to be present in all our thoughts. If a person thinks about something often enough, he will come to the point where he thinks of nothing else. Our thoughts easily dwell—take up residence on certain issues or ideals, and Paul was directing us to make sure the things our minds dwell on are the right things. We are to give these types of things careful reflection.
The verb dwell is in the middle voice, meaning that it is something we do to ourselves. No one can make us think these thoughts, nor do we think these thoughts for others. We are each responsible for our own thoughts.
The first trait of right thinking is that the things we think about be true. This is not a prohibition against reading fiction, but there needs to be the element of truthfulness and dependability in the types of things about which we think. Paul meant true in the ethical sense. There are many things in this world which are deceptive and illusory: they promise that which they can never perform.
We also are to think about whatever is honorable. These are things that are noble and worthy of our respect. The things we think about should have the dignity of holiness about it. In addition, these things are to be just. The word used here for just captures both justice and righteousness in an overall, comprehensive sense. The things we think on should be right. The Christian’s thoughts are on duty to man and duty to God.
We are also to dwell on whatever is pure. This certainly includes being morally undefiled, but it also includes purity in all things. The word pure means that these things are to be pure, even holy, in relation to God. Fit to be brought into the presence of God, and used in the services of God.
Further, we are to think about whatever is lovely or worthy. Those things that are attractive and call forth love. A person who dwells on unlovely things, such as vengeance or punishment, becomes full of bitterness and can even cause fear in others. The person who dwells on lovely things, such as kindness or sympathy, is seen as a lovable person.
Paul then called us to focus our thoughts on what on whatever is commendable or of good report---things which are fit for God to hear. These words are attractive to the hearer.
Paul concluded that the things we dwell on should include moral excellence and praise. These two qualities help us better define and understand the other excellent qualities. For instance, the world describes things that are lovely in a variety of ways, but we are to think on those lovely things that are morally excellent. These are also to be things for which we can praise God.
Paul may have discovered a list of virtues which was acceptable to him, but the motivations and resources to develop these qualities in a Christian manner come only from the Holy Spirit who produces such fruit within.
In vs. 9 Paul showed how Christian morality went beyond these six virtues. Paul called the believers to live according to those things that they had both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in him.
The Philippian Christians had been taught a distinctly Christian way of living. It included the virtues of vs. 8, but it went beyond them. Its goal was nothing less than becoming like Christ. Most converts in Philippi had no background in Judaism and knew nothing about the moral teachings of Scripture. How were they to know how to live as Christians? They listened to the teachings from the O.T., heard the teachings of Jesus, and observed the lives of missionaries like Paul.
Paul named two actions. First, he told us to dwell: second, he told us to do. These verbs go hand-in-hand. When we focus on only those things that are true, honorable, pure, and so forth, we will at the same time begin to practice them. What fills our minds will fill our lives.
The hope of the Christian is an indestructible hope because it is founded on the eternal God.
“For right is right, since God is God, and right the day must win;
To doubt would be disloyalty, to falter would be sin.
Did you notice what Paul told us to do? He told us to act like him! What does a person look like who thinks and acts out the qualities mentioned in vs. 8? Paul was bold enough to tell us to follow his example: “Do what you learned and received and heard and seen in me.” Paul’s command was to do this as a matter of habit. The Philippians knew Paul, and they were to act upon what they had personally seen and learned from him.
We tend to understand passages like this as telling us what we are to do as individual followers of Christ. And we should. We need to remember, though, that Paul was writing to the church, not just to individuals. The church can never think and live beyond what its individual members do, but we should also consider what this exhortation says about the church. If the church were to disregard this approach to thinking, it would threaten the harmony of the church.
As the church unites under these characteristics and conducts all is affairs by only dwelling on what is true, honorable, just, and so forth, it presents an incredible testimony to the world. The result of this right thinking and action is the same result we saw in vs. 7: the God of peace will be with you. This is one of Paul’s favorite titles for God, and we see that God not only gives us His peace to guard us but the Author of this peace Himself will be with us.
PLEASE READ PHILIPPIANS 4: 10-13, 19.
As the letter draws to an end Paul generously expresses his gratitude for the gift which the Philippians had sent to him. He knew that he had always been much in their minds and hearts and thoughts, but circumstances had up till now given them no opportunity to show their mindfulness of him.
Paul considered the Philippians a blessing in his life, and because of their “partnership in the gospel” he may have viewed them as a double blessing. In Ch. 1, Paul expressed his thanks, and in ch. 4 he returned to that thought with more detail. “He was full of joy”, he wrote, because the Philippians had “renewed your care for me.”
In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote of the generosity and giving of the churches in Macedonia, which would include the church at Philippi. Even though they faced very hard times themselves, they gave sacrificially to help with the needs of others. Some time had elapsed between the gift mentioned in 2 Corinthians and he one now delivered by Epaphroditus in 4: 18, perhaps as much as six years. Why hadn‘t the Philippians given earlier? Paul knew they we constantly concerned about him: You were, in fact, concerned about me he wrote. The phrase indicates a constant thought and concern.
The Philippians wanted to help, but they lacked the opportunity to show it. The lack of opportunity was probably because Paul had no need. Paul was not after their money, and he dealt with this matter delicately. Paul’s acceptance of the Philippians’ gift shows his confidence in their affection. He knew they truly cared about him, and so he was willing to accept their gift.
It was not that he was dissatisfied with his own state, for he had learned the gift of content.
It is here that Paul uses one of the great words of pagan ethics. He says that he had learned to be entirely self-sufficient. This self-sufficiency was the highest aim of the Stoic ethics.
By self-sufficiency the Stoics meant a state of mind in which a man was absolutely and entirely independent of all things and of all people, a state in which a man had taught himself to need nothing, and to need no one. The Stoic rightly believed that contentment did not consist in possessing much but in wanting little.
They said, “If you want to make a man happy, add not to his possessions, but take away from his desires.” In order to achieve content the Stoic abolished all desires and eliminated all emotions. Love was rooted out of life, and caring was forbidden. The Stoics made of the heart a desert, and called it peace.
We see at once the difference between the Stoics and Paul. The stoic said, “I will learn content by a deliberate act of my own will.” Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who infuses His strength into me.” For the Stoic contentment was a human achievement: for Paul it was a divine gift. The Stoic was self-sufficient; but Paul was God-sufficient. Stoicism failed because it was inhuman; Christianity succeeded because it was rooted in the divine.
Paul could face anything: he could have nothing and he could have all things: it made no difference, because, in any situation he had Jesus Christ. The man who walks with Christ and lives in Christ can cope with anything.
In Vs. 13 Paul says this beautifully: “I am a match for all circumstances through the One whose overflow of power keeps enabling me.” Paul thanked the Philippians for their gift to meet his needs, and in vs. 19 he assured them that God would also meet their needs. Paul could not repay them but God could---and would.
How would God supply their needs? According to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. God will use His great riches---His riches that shine in glory---for our benefit. Those riches are all found in Christ Jesus. As we continually give ourselves to Christ and live in Him, we place ourselves in a position for Him to take care of our needs. He supplies our needs out of His glory and for His glory.
NEXT SUNDAY FROM PAUL’S LETTER TO THE CHURCH AT COLOSSAE WE LEARN THAT BEING FIRMLY GROUNDED IN BIBLICAL TRUTH WE ARE PREVENTED FROM FALLING FOR FALSE TEACHING SO PREVALENT TODAY.
A.V. DAUGHERTY altav@swbell.net http://www.theweeks.org/av/