Good morning to everyone, beautiful sunny morning. Thank you Diane for playing this morning and Mark for leading us. We appreciate that. 

It's always an interesting decision for me to decide where we should go next in the Word of God. We're always committed to teaching verse by verse, book by book. But sometimes it's hard to decide where to go. Sometimes you kind of have a leading in that and other times not. I decided this time to just go on to the next book after Ephesians, a letter to the Philippians. I was trying to look back and see when I preached on that and it's not in the record, so it must have been 20 years or so ago. We did do a Bible study on it about five years ago. 

But after I began to study and read and think on this epistle again, I was so blessed and so encouraged because I think that this is just what the book we need to be in at this time in our world. We live in an interesting time and I was thinking about the inundation of the whole political machine and advertisement and manipulation that we're experiencing right now in America. 

I was especially unimpressed with the recent theme of joy in the campaign of Miss Harris. She is the joy candidate. They tell us she's brought joy back to our nation. The whole campaign and the song of the mockingbird media for weeks was joy, joy, joy. This is fascinating to me, especially in light of my studies of the book before us—a book that is all about joy and rejoicing. Paul uses the term rejoice ten times in these four short chapters and the word joy four times. 

I wonder, do you think that the national political parties, the media, the talking heads, the worldly wise men know anything at all about the joy of which Paul speaks here? Does the world know anything about joy? I would submit to you that the world knows at times brief times of happiness. The world is actually in a constant and futile pursuit of happiness. Everyone wants to be happy. “I just want my children to be happy.” “My husband doesn’t make me happy.” “You deserve to be happy.” What a bunch of hogwash! The search for happiness is an ill-fated pursuit. The reason is that happiness is a matter of happenstance, happenings in your life, your circumstances. 

Here’s the problem with that: your circumstances are often really bad in this world, saved or lost. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble.” In Job 5:7, Job said, “Yet man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.” Some days the Sun is shining and the children are obedient and the cows give a lot of milk. But not most days. Most days we have some trouble; some days we have a lot of trouble. In a few days, we have overwhelming, gut-wrenching, heartbreaking trouble. 

The primary goal of the world is to avoid trouble. The world does not want any trouble and so the men and women seek every way possible, at unlimited expense, to avoid trouble and trial and discomfort and difficulty. But sadly, they cannot. In this world, you will have trouble. Jesus said you will have bad circumstances: sickness, death, disease, pestilence, bad neighbors, bad drivers, bad bosses, bad governments, and on and on it goes day by day living in this world. It's almost as if this old world is somehow cursed. 

So circumstances, happenstance, come and go—bad and good—and so happiness comes and goes. But joy, true joy, lasts—abides for one reason: Joy, true joy, is based in a person. We’re going to see in our introduction to Philippians this morning that Paul relates joy to some specific things, and particularly he relates joy to a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul was suffering when he wrote these words, chained to a Roman soldier, a prisoner in his rented house. He was falsely charged, awaiting a less than speedy trial—two years in this first imprisonment before he would see Caesar—and not only that, but Paul found persecution even from some who named the name of Christ, as some hoped even by preaching to add affliction to his chains, indicating that he was deserving somehow of this punishment. 

He writes not from a comfortable vacation home on the ocean somewhere but from prison, suffering persecution for his testimony concerning Jesus Christ. He writes, “All know that my chains are in Christ,” and yet he writes of profound joy. Paul begins explaining that his joy is related to the going forth of the gospel of preaching Christ and the good news of salvation by faith in Him. In Chapter 1, verse 18, he says, “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and in this I rejoice. Yes, and will rejoice.” 

In 2:16, Paul says that we should rejoice in the day of Christ, his coming, and the hope that we have in Him, and in verse 17 that we should rejoice in our service to the church, to the brethren, even if it means our death, and in 2:28 that we should rejoice in our brothers and sisters in Christ and gain encouragement by their presence and testimony. In 3:1, finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. 

3:3, we are to rejoice in Christ Jesus. For rejoice in the Lord, in Philippians 1:25, 2:2, and 4:1, we see that Paul's joy is in the faith of the believers and their unity and that the believers in Philippi are, in fact, themselves his joy. Our joy, my brothers and sisters, is not in the circumstances or things of this world. Our joy is not mere happiness, happenstance. Our joy is in Christ—in salvation, in the confident assurance we have by the Word of God of our eternity. Our joy is in people—our brethren, bringing the gospel to the lost, serving one another, loving one another, and loving the Lord. Our joy is based in a person, Jesus Christ, and thus we can always, regardless of our present circumstances, rejoice in Jesus and who we are and what we have in Him. This is joy; this is rejoicing, and this is what this little letter to the believers in Philippi is all about. 

Let’s look at verse 1: Philippians 1:1: “Paul and Timothy, bond servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, with the bishops and the deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 

“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making requests for you all with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 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. Just as it is right for me to think this of you all because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you are all partakers with me of grace.” 

“For God is my witness how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.” 

“This I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.” 

Wonderful words from Paul to begin this epistle. 

So I've given you six points on your outline: 

First, rejoice in Christ. 

Second, rejoice in the day of Christ. 

Third, rejoice in service to Christ. 

Fourth, rejoice in the brethren. 

Fifth, rejoice in suffering. 

And sixth, rejoice in the Lord. 

We are very familiar with Paul and Timothy—the Apostle and his faithful son in the faith, his messenger, his encourager, his successor. In Ephesus, Timothy was with Paul in the second missionary journey when he came to Philippi. We read about Timothy in chapter 2 of this epistle at verse 19: “But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state.” Timothy was still serving Paul and the brethren and would be Paul’s messenger so that he might know how the believers in Philippi were doing. 

Paul also gives us a comprehensive testimony concerning himself and his background—one of the greatest passages in the New Testament—in chapter 3, at verse 1. Let’s look at that: 

Philippians 3:1: “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation. For we are the circumcision who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I also might have confidence in the flesh, if anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I’m more so.” 

“Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gained to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.” 

“Yet indeed, I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.” 

“That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering, being conformed to His death, if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” 

“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do: forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” 

We know the story of Paul—first Saul of Tarsus—a Pharisee, a legalistic Jew, a Roman citizen by birth, a persecutor of the church, zealous for Judaism, and a hater of Jesus Christ. But then on that Damascus Road, struck blind, shown the light, and converted to faith in the one he was persecuting. And at that point, he no longer trusted in his heritage, in his works, his performance in Judaism, but he placed his faith wholly in Jesus Christ.

Look at his words again in 3:8: “I indeed count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things.” 

And he’s talking about Judaism and the religion he grew up in, he was trained in, he lived in, and he fought for. He says, “I count it all as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him.” “Not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness of God, which is from God by faith.”

“And after his conversion, Jesus called him into a powerful ministry to the Gentiles.” Turn with me to Acts 26. I love this passage. It's Paul’s testimony before Agrippa in Acts 26:14. He’s talking about that experience on the Damascus Road. He said, “And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ So I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose: to make you a minister and a witness, both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you.’”

Why did He send Paul? Look at verse 18: “To open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” 

“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.” 

And this was now Paul’s life—to know Jesus and to make Him known. “That I may know Him,” he says, “and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering, being conformed to His death, if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” He’s pressing toward the goal. 

This is Paul the Apostle, the author who now sits in chains, persecuted because of Christ, who is now still witnessing and rejoicing in Jesus. Look at verse 12 of chapter 1: Philippians 1:12. He says, “I want you to know, brethren.” I mean, you can imagine that the believers in Philippi who loved Paul were concerned about him. He's been arrested; he's in prison; he's chained to a Roman soldier. He says, “I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ.” 

And most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Isn’t that great? Isn’t that wonderful? 

Even his imprisonment, we see here, that Paul’s joy is in Christ—not in his circumstances in prison, chained to a Roman soldier. I wondered as I read these words how I might react if this kind of persecution comes to us in the church in America. It could be that that would happen in our lifetime. How would I react if I found myself in chains because of Christ? I wonder if I would rejoice, if I would find joy in witness and testimony—a sort of involuntary prison ministry. 

Haddon Robinson said that Paul was chained to that Roman soldier, but that Roman soldier was also chained to Paul. It’s a matter of perspective. Paul was a witness regardless of his circumstances. And in witnessing, preaching Christ, and whenever Christ was preached, he rejoiced. That was his joy: to bring that message, to tell people about Jesus. 

Because what mattered to Paul was not his own comfort and circumstances, but preaching Christ— that Jesus would be glorified, whether by Paul’s life or even by his death. It did not matter. What an example we find in Paul and Timothy and what a heart they had for the believers in Philippi—we’ll see as we move through this letter. 

Well next we see in this great epistle of joy that we are to rejoice in the day of Christ, particularly in the joy of full salvation for all believers, especially those who we have fellowship with or perhaps that we've led to Christ. 

Listen to Paul’s love for these saints and his desire for their fruit and holiness for the glory of Christ. Philippians 1:3 again: “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, making requests for you all with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.” 

That’s what really unites us, isn’t it? The fellowship of the gospel. A man must believe the gospel if we’re going to have fellowship with him. There’s a separation at the point of the gospel. We can disagree on a lot of other things, but there has to be a separation at the point of the gospel. 

So he says we have fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, 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. Just as it is right for me to think of this of you all because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. 

“For God is my witness how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.” 

And this is his prayer for them, that their love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, continue to grow; they would continue to abide; they would continue to produce fruit and love one another and love the lost and bring glory to Christ—to prove the things that are excellent, he says, sincere and without offense till Jesus comes. 

Paul rejected or rejoiced in them; he rejoiced in the fruit that God was producing through this church, these believers, as they were abiding in Him, believing Jesus, loving one another. His prayer was that they would continue to abound more and more in these things, and his trust, you’ll see, was in God—that He would be faithful to continue this work in them until Jesus comes. 

The day of Christ here refers to His coming, what Paul calls our blessed hope, His glorious appearing. We are saved in this hope, he says in Romans 8—saved from doubt and fear today by the sure confidence we have of His coming. We rejoice in this hope, and this hope encourages us to live for the One who died for us. 

Peter gives us the same encouragement in 1 Peter 1. You remember in that first chapter he’s speaking about our great salvation and talking about all the facets and elements and even in suffering how we will have the end of our salvation rejoicing in Christ. 

And then in verse 13, he says, “Therefore, based on the truth of our salvation, gird up the loins of your mind. Pull it all in; gird up the loins of your mind—all those loose thoughts. Bring them together, be sober, and listen to this—rest your hope fully, completely upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 

Rest your hope fully on the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Don’t rest your hope partially on the politicians of our world; don’t rest your hope partially on your bank account, on your comfortable lifestyle. You know Pastor Krenz used to say that, and I think it’s one of the truest things I’ve ever heard. The thing that we fear most in the church in America is losing our comfortable lifestyle. 

Gird up the loins of your mind, pull them together, get your focus on Jesus. Rest your hope fully upon Him. Put it together and set your whole hope on the grace of God. John 14:1—Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me. I am—I'm in my Father's house, are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. And He says, ‘I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.’” 

Hope and joy—our joy is based in the promise of Jesus to come for us in the day of Christ. And we see in this letter that our joy is also found in service to Christ and witness to the lost and love for the Lord and for the brethren. 

Look at Philippians 1:21. Paul says, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor. Yet what I shall choose, I cannot tell, for I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.” 

“And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again.” 

There is joy; there is rejoicing in fellowship. There is joy in service, in loving one another, ministering to the needs of the Saints. This was the life of Paul—his life, his purpose, his meaning and his joy. And so we are to serve one another. Galatians 5:13 says, “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty, only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” 

And Mark 10:45, Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many.” 

Think of that passage in 1 Peter 2 where Jesus is our example, that we are called to suffer, that He committed no sin, He did not revile and return. But what did He do? He entrusted Himself to Him who judges righteously. He was a servant to the point of death on the cross. 

Look over to Philippians 2—another tremendous passage we must have His mind of service. Philippians 2:1: “Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” 

“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” 

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond slave and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death— even the death of the cross.” 

Let this mind be in you. We rejoice in the opportunity to encourage our brothers and sisters, to fellowship and talk about the Lord, to minister to one another’s needs—servants of our Lord and servants of one another. It’s all, as Paul says to the believers here, “You are my joy.” 

You are my joy and my crown of rejoicing. We rejoice in service to Christ, and we rejoice in the brethren. And again this is why our circumstances are not significant, because we can rejoice and serve wherever we are, just as we see from the example of Paul, chained to a Roman soldier, preaching the gospel, encouraging the brethren, doing what he can do. 

So this kind of faithful life, abiding in Christ, loving one another also results in hatred and persecution from the world, as we see here in the example of Paul and his chains. But even in suffering in Christ, with confidence, we can rejoice. 

Look at Philippians 1:24: “Nevertheless, to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.” And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again. 

“Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether I come and see you, or am absent, I may hear of your affairs—that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition but to you of salvation and that from God.” 

“For to you, it has been granted on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him but also to suffer for His sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.” 

We rejoice in suffering, because we know that this is proof of perdition for our adversaries, but of salvation to us, and that from God. We rejoice in suffering and trial and tribulation because we know that God is accomplishing His will in us through these things, and His will—Christ’s likeness and witness and testimony and glory for God—is our ultimate desire and joy. 

If your ultimate desire and joy is to live for Him, to be like Christ, to have this mind, and the only way that can happen is through suffering and trial and tribulation, then you can rejoice when that comes. James says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into all kinds of various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” 

Count it all joy when you fall into various trials—all kinds of trouble. How contrary to the world where everyone is trying to avoid trouble. We rejoice in the refining, purifying effect of trials because we know that God is producing patience and character and Christlikeness in us. 

In Romans 5:1, he says, “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” 

And then he says, “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations.” Why? Because we know and believe that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance character, and character hope. And hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 

We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, and we also rejoice in tribulations. How can this be? Because we know that the squeezing of trials, when they come, is like an olive press squeezing the olive. And what comes out when you squeeze an olive? The pure oil, right? So when trials press in on us and squeeze us, what comes out? The true essence of who we are on the inside. 

And we learn patience. Perseverance develops character, results in hope, and we are never disappointed. We are never hopeless. We are never joyless when our eyes are on Him and our hope is in Him, when we trust in Jesus. 

And that’s why Paul summarizes our joy in Philippians 3:1 when he says, “Finally, brethren, rejoice in the Lord.” Rejoice in the Lord! He doesn’t change. He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. I rejoice in Jesus! We rejoice in the Lord. Jesus is our peace. Jesus is our assurance. Jesus is our hope and our joy every day, no matter what. 

I had a guy stop by and see me yesterday—a faithful believer in Jesus Christ—and I don’t see him often. I see him maybe twice a year, but he stopped in, and he was concerned because he has a new neighbor. 

The neighbor is a Mennonite guy, and he didn’t understand much about that. But he had a Mennonite neighbor at the farm across the road for 20 years, and they had a great relationship—helping one another. But he sold this to a different Mennonite guy, and he says he tries to help him. He loans him equipment, he fixes things; he does whatever he can to help him out. But he says every time he engages this man, the man condemns him and lectures him and tells him he’s going to hell—even as my friend helps him. 

So he asked me what I thought was going on. He said, “I just don’t get it—everything I try, the man tells me that I’m a heathen and destined for hell, and I don’t know what to do.” 

Trying to get along with his neighbor. But you see, my friends, this Mennonite fellow seeks to find joy in legalism, in trying to keep laws and dress a certain way and live an aesthetic lifestyle. You know, my favorite religious joke is that the Mennonites think the Amish are legalistic. 

But this guy, he looks at his neighbor and he says, “This guy doesn’t do all the things that I value as my assurance and my hope.” But that poor fellow really has no joy because his joy is not in Jesus. It’s not in the grace of God; it’s not in the provision of Christ and salvation and life and peace solely because of and found in the person of Christ. 

And therefore, he has no joy—only condemnation and judgment, and elevating himself above others. That’s no joy. We can’t find joy in the things of the world and vices and frivolities and fortune and fame. 

We can’t find joy in religion or works or self-righteousness. Only by grace can we find salvation, and only through faith and only because of regeneration and the life and power of Jesus and the Holy Spirit living in us can we love one another, can we rejoice in Christ. 

You see, we must keep our eyes on the Lord. We must focus on Jesus—look to Him as we run this race of the Christian life. Only in Jesus can we find true joy—abiding joy, no matter what our circumstances are. 

I just want to close with those great verses in Philippians 4. If you look at Philippians 4:4: “You see, this theme runs all the way through the letter. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there’s any virtue, if there’s anything praiseworthy, then meditate on these things. 

The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again, though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. 

Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned—look at this—I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 

I have learned, he says, in whatever state I am in, to be content in Christ. We have to learn! We must learn, my brothers and sisters, and we must be content in Christ and Christ alone because learning to be content in Christ alone is the source and essence of true joy—abiding joy. And that’s what we see from Paul in this wonderful letter. 

Let’s close in prayer. 

Father, we’re so thankful—thankful for the gospel, for grace, for Jesus, for your gift of salvation, your promise of eternal life, the sufficiency of your word. Thank you that you are all we need each and every day in this world. Thank you that you’ve given us the privilege of being your servants, your witnesses, your ambassadors, that you’ve given to us the word of reconciliation to preach, to herald in this world. 

Help us to find our joy in Jesus—in serving Him, loving one another, and fulfilling your will for us as long as you leave us here, and until you come to take us to be with you forever. In Jesus’ name, Amen.