Philippians 1:27-30

A lady was walking through Walmart the other day pushing a buggy with a toddler in it and the toddler was not happy. The little girl was screaming and crying and throwing stuff but the mother was very calm. She kept saying, “Now, Becky, be quiet. Becky, be calm. Becky, use your inside voice.”

I saw her and knew she was struggling and I wanted to encourage her so I said, “You’re doing a good job with little Becky there.” The woman looked at me and said, “I’m Becky!”

Did your mother ever tell you that y’all were about to go to a store and if you didn’t behave in there you were going to be in trouble? My mom did. I think most moms do. And if they don’t, they should. It’s part of being a good parent. You know that your child is a reflection of you and you want your child to be well-behaved.

You want your children to grow up to be well-adjusted and productive members of society. You, as a parent or grandparent, have the most vital role in making sure that happens. It’s not up to the schools or the courts or politicians to make sure your kids grow up well. In fact, a big part of your job is going to be un-teaching them what the world wants to teach them.

I saw a headline on Apple News the other day that said, “Make a difference: Learn, give back, take action, and more.” Now, that sounds like a good thing, doesn’t it? But the picture that went along with it gave away their intentions. The picture showed a rainbow flag with a black power fist drawn on it. When I went to the article I found that their definition of “Learn, give back and take action” is a lot different than what the Bible teaches.

You have to teach your kids how to behave as good citizens of this country but also as travelers just passing through this world on our way to the next. And that’s hard! It is a struggle. You will face push-back and challenges every step of the way. The world doesn’t want you raising your kids that way. Don’t expect any real help from anybody that is not a true Spirit-filled follower of Jesus that gets their help from scripture.

But thank you, God, for scripture! We have help to know how to raise our kids and also to know how we are supposed to live. The Apostle Paul has been our teacher for several weeks now as we continue our sermon series going through the joyful little book of Philippians. We have come to a passage at the end of chapter one that, as usual, I didn’t understand at first. I really thought about just skipping it and going on to the incredible chapter two but God gave me no peace about that, so I hammered down and got to studying.

And it was so much fun digging into this passage. At one point, I had three different Bibles open, four commentaries, my 32-pound concordance and my laptop had seven web pages up but I learned so much. What I found was that Paul really felt like a parent trying to raise a bunch of kids. He had started the church in Philippi and thought of them as his children in the Lord and he wanted to make sure they grew up to be mature citizens of the Kingdom of God.

He wanted them to be aware of what to expect and what was expected of them. He warns them that it was not going to be easy and it would mean hard work and they should expect to be persecuted for doing it. Just like raising godly kids today. Let’s turn to Philippians 1 and read verses 27-30. As always, Paul can say more in three verses than most of us ever will.

Remember from last week, Paul has just told them he doesn’t know if he will ever see them again or not. He is writing from jail and he may be released tomorrow and sent home or they might lop his head off. These are his next words to his children in the Lord.

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel 28without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved-and that by God. 29For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

Doesn’t that sound very fatherly? He starts off saying, “Look kids, whether I’m there or not, you better be acting right.” Did your dad ever say, “Don’t make me come in there!”? Or maybe he was driving down the road and said, “Don’t make me pull over!” My favorite was always, “Do you want a spanking?” I’m thinking, that’s a dumb question but I usually kept my mouth shut.

Paul tells them to conduct themselves worthy of the Gospel of Christ. Then everything after that is a description of what that means. What is the Gospel of Christ? It’s the Good News that Jesus was born, lived a sinless life, died on a cross and rose again three days later and lives today and wants to have a relationship with you. That’s the great Good News but if you truly believe it, you better live it. That’s what Paul is saying here in verse 27.

It’s almost cliché to point out the hypocrisy of some people on social media. They post one thing that is a scripture verse with a wonderful message under it and the next is full of bad language and calling people names. Don’t do that, please. If you claim to be a Christian, you have to realize that the world is watching you just waiting for you to do something like that so they can say, “Well, obviously that Christianity stuff is no good. I don’t want anything to do with that.” They shouldn’t feel that way but that’s how the world is and you can’t give them that out.

Now, Paul goes on to say what conducting yourselves worthy is going to look like. The first thing he mentions is standing firm in the one spirit. The Greek word for “standing firm” is “steko” which means to hold one’s ground regardless of the danger. It was used of a soldier who defended his position at all costs.

Paul uses the same word in Ephesians 6 where he says to put on the full armor of God and then…stand. Stand strong. Stand for truth and against lies. Now, when I say that we all think, “Oh yes. I’m standing for truth all the time. My opinions are all correct!” Maybe. But where this is hardest is when the father of lies tempts you to sin. Now how ya standing? It’s not that hard to stand up for truth when somebody else is falling for the lies of Satan. It’s something else when we see ourselves falling.

John Newton said, “When people are right with God, they are apt to be hard on themselves and easy on other people. But when they are not right with God, they are easy on themselves and hard on others.” We are to stand up against sin but first make sure you are standing against it in your own life.

Paul goes on to say that when you stand, there is good news. You don’t stand alone. At the end of verse 27, he says, “I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel…” That’s good news when you are struggling against sin either in your own life or in the world itself because it means you will have others to stand with you. But remember, that means you have to stand when somebody else is fighting that battle. You have to stand with them.

This past week, I posted something on Facebook speaking harshly against the new presidential policy of giving money to other countries to further abortion. I thought it was going to be a pretty easy battle, to tell you the truth. I mean, what kind of sicko thinks it’s okay to kill babies? But also, who wants our taxpayer money to be used for other countries to do it? I thought it was a no-brainer. I didn’t expect to get hammered for it, not only by unbelievers but also by some who claim to be Christians. It blew me away.

But I had a bunch of brothers and sisters to stand with me. They were nice and polite, unlike some on the other side. They were there to support me but mainly to support the truth and it made all the difference. They repelled the enemy’s arrows in places I didn’t see them coming and God got the glory for it so it was a winning situation.

But that is what is going to happen when you stand. The world is not going to like it and they will attack. That is the next thing that Paul warns us about in this passage. He says when you stand, you will have to strive. Look at the end of verse 27 again. “I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together…”

That word that Paul uses there means to be an athlete competing in a match, something like wrestling or boxing. But Paul uses this word to say that this life, if lived well and lived correctly, will be a battle.

Alright, I want you to think in terms of a battle for just a minute. Let’s get tactical, if you will. We are fighting a battle and, again going back to Ephesians 6, we know that this battle is not against flesh and blood, right? We are flesh and blood and there are opponents on the other side, non-believers, that are flesh and blood but our battle is not really against them. Our battle is against Satan and all the forces of this dark world.

I can tell you that one of Satan’s favorite battle plans is to divide and conquer. He does it in the family. He does it in the church. He will do it in your own mind if you let him. And he does it because it works. I repeat. Divide and conquer works…so why don’t we use that strategy? Let’s divide some of those flesh and blood on the other side and actually bring them over to our side. What better way to win a battle than to make your enemy your friend and brother? I’m not saying unbelievers ARE really our enemy but they are on the other side because they have fallen for Satan’s lies just like we used to. So, let’s bring them over to the side of truth by standing together for the sake of the Gospel, being polite and nice at all times, but it’s time to start fighting this battle aggressively.

No army wins a battle by just being defensive. We need to start picking out and picking off some of those on the other side and speaking the life-changing Gospel of Jesus to them. Don’t get carried away with this battle illustration and think we are out to hurt anybody in any way. Just the opposite. Satan is taking them straight to hell with his lies. We want to aggressively speak truth to the people in our circle of influence and pray fervently for those outside our circle. That’s a battle plan to divide and conquer for the Kingdom of God and I’ll give you some encouragement. Our commanding officer is the Creator of all the universe and has equipped you with everything you need to fulfill your duty as a soldier. That’s the good news about sharing the Good News.

The bad news about sharing the Good News is that, as Paul tells us in verse 28, there will be those who oppose you and when people oppose you, Paul goes on to say that you will suffer. Now, I need you to look at verse 28 again and this will make sense. He says, “28without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you.” He goes on to say that when they oppose you as you speak truth to them, it shows them to be on their way to destruction. But when they oppose you, you will be saved. But you have to expect to be opposed.

Some people can’t handle rejection very well and it keeps them from sharing their testimony or telling somebody what scripture says about how to get to Heaven. But you have to get over that fear of rejection and know that some people are always going to reject you. They rejected Paul plenty of times. They rejected Jesus so they are going to reject you.

Let me give you an illustration of what this could very well look like. Did you know that on Joe Biden’s very first day in office he signed seventeen executive orders?  Yep. And one of those executive orders was a mandate to allow transgender athletes to play sports as whatever gender they identify with. What that means is that schools now have to allow boys who say they feel like girls to not only play sports with those girls but also share locker rooms.

Don’t believe me? Here are his exact words: “Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports.” Now, we can all work ourselves into a dither talking about how wrong that is but let me give you a scenario to show what Paul was talking about in this passage.

Let’s say you go to see your daughter or granddaughter play volleyball at her high school or college like you have for years. But this year there is a boy on her team that identifies as a girl. He’s 6’4” and 200 pounds and has a beard but he says he “feels like” he’s a girl so the school has to let him play volleyball with the girls. You can imagine how unfair that is to all the other girls but that’s not the big problem.

After the game you realize they are all headed back to the same locker room. What ya gonna do? Sit there? No. You walk down the bleachers and stand in front of that boy and explain nicely to him that your daughter is in there and you will not allow him to go in there while she is changing clothes.

He explains that he identifies as a girl and you have to let him by. I know what you are thinking. You are thinking that you now identify as the tooth fairy and you are going to knock his teeth out if he goes any further. But you don’t say that. You are nice but you stand your ground. The word is steko in Greek, to stand.

So, the boy goes home and tells his parents. The parents tell the principal and the principal calls the cops who show up at your door the next morning. And if you think this is implausible you have not been paying attention to the world around you. So, the cops knock on the door and ask about the run-in you had with the transgender individual last night. But here is what the nice officer says, “Look, what you did is now a hate crime. That is discrimination against a member of the LGBTQ community and we are here to arrest you…unless you recant your statement, apologize to the boy and agree to never do it again.”

So, now what do you do? It’s easy to say now but are you positive? I hope you go to jail because, if what Paul says is true, then you won’t be in jail long but pretty soon you will be joined by me and several others in our church there to support you and the biblical truth that God created ONLY man and woman. All of us there standing firm and striving together and being opposed.

Look again at the incredible words that Paul uses in verse 28. “This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved.” Paul is saying that when this oppression happens, just know that it is a sign that as John McArthur says, “the enemies of God are under severe judgment…eternal punishment…everlasting suffering in hell.” (Philippians, page 93)

And it is also a sign that as Christians suffering for the cause of Christ that we are true believers. Now suffering sounds like a scary and depressing thing but Paul goes on to say that it is a gift of God. Look at it in verse 29. “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him.”

Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:12, “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Paul understood that in a way that most of us never have and never will but times are coming when we just might need to remember that suffering is a gift and Paul wanted all the gifts Jesus had to offer. In fact, he said in Philippians 3:10, “I want to know Christ-yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”

That’s big talk and a hard prayer to pray. I’m not saying I’m there yet but I will say I want the joy that Paul had in the difficulties of this life because I believe, like David said, that this life is a wisp of smoke. (Psalm 39:5) James 4:14 says, “You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” But we know our treasure in Heaven last forever and ever.

Are you ready? Are you living in such a way that might warrant persecution in the last days because we are living in the last of the last days and it is coming. We aren’t guaranteed another breath. Make sure your relationship with God is what it should be. If you don’t have that relationship then ask God for forgiveness right now. Repent of your sins. Turn away from that old lifestyle that was leading you to hell and allow God to change your life. All you have to do is truly believe. Do it right now.

 

 

 

 

Philippians 1:18b-26

Let’s talk about Heaven for a minute. What is Heaven going to be like? Who will be there? How do we get there? What will we do? Are you ready to go there? And, of course, we have to ask the question, will our dogs be there? There is a lot we don’t know about Heaven but there is a lot we do know and we know enough right now to know we want to go there.

I know you have heard the old joke about the preacher who asked for everybody to raise their hand if they wanted to go to Heaven. A little boy in the back didn’t raise his hand and the preacher asked why not. The little boy said, “Well, I thought you were getting up a group to go right now.”

Well, my question to you today is, “Why not?” Why not right now? No. Don’t worry. I’m not going to break out the Jim Jones juice in communion cups so we can all commit suicide. I’m just asking the question. If I had a heavenly bus, a divine Greyhound, waiting right outside the door ready to haul you to Heaven right now, would you get on? Why or why not? And I honestly understand if you answer yes or no.

I say that because I completely understand wanting to be in Heaven right now and away from this nasty old world but maybe there is something in this world that I am supposed to do. So, that can be a difficult question to answer. In fact, the Apostle Paul didn’t know how to answer that question either as we will see in Philippians 1:18-26.

As you turn there, I want you to realize and think about why you are still here. If God has allowed you to live to see this day, then there must be a reason. It is God’s will that you are alive today and when it is not God’s will for you to live, then you won’t. It’s as simple as that. But if you are alive today, and most of you appear to be, then you are alive, as Paul says, to help somebody else progress in their faith and have joy in their faith. That’s why we are all still here.

Let’s read it in Philippians 1. Let’s start with the last part of verse 18 and read through verse 26. Paul says, Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19for I know that through your prayers and God's provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. 20I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. 21For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.

Previous to this, Paul has told of some difficult things that have happened to him but he says at the end of verse 18 that he still rejoices. He says in 2 Corinthians 11 that he was whipped, stoned, left for dead, shipwrecked, stabbed, shot and run over by a steam roller (well, not exactly but he might as well have) and yet here he is rejoicing. I’m reminded of the old Alabama song, You Can’t Keep a Good Man Down. That describes Paul, doesn’t it?

I looked up the words to that song and here is what it says. He starts off talking about how his woman has left him and he was really bummed out at first but you can’t keep a good man down. He says, “Oh, enough is enough I won't take anymore
I'm pickin' myself up off the floor

Gonna dress up in the finest clothes that I own
And take it to the streets, I won't be lonely for long
I'm gonna put all my best moves
On every single woman I see

You can’t keep a good man down.”

Now, I like Alabama but what is this man’s hope in? It sounds like his hope is in his wardrobe and his good looks and in his charm. I hope that works out for him. Well, some of us here don’t have that stuff to rely on and that is okay because that is not where our joy comes from. I guess, like Paul, we will just have to rely on obedience to God to find our joy. When you have a relationship with God and your focus is on Him and pleasing Him and being obedient to Him, then you can’t keep a good man or woman down. We will have joy.

You have joy when you see this life as a net win. Whatever happens, we win. As true believers, whatever happens to us is in God’s hands and God is in control and He loves us so what is there not to have joy about? Paul earlier told the Romans that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. (Romans 8:28) If you believe that, and you should, then what in the world are you worried about?

Now, sometimes we make bad decisions and wind up in trouble. Sort of like how Morris wrote in the bulletin the other day the funny saying, “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the consequences of my own actions!” We are surprised sometimes that our actions have consequences and we shouldn’t be. But that is part of what Paul is saying in verse 20 where he says, “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body...”

It is a choice to exalt Jesus Christ and we do that by acting more and more like Him. And how do we act more like Him? We act more like Him by learning more about Him and seeking to know Him better. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” “All these things” means joy and peace and love and the ability to go through this life overcoming all the things that might keep a man down.

Alright, I’m going to say something controversial right here. Start your tape recorders. Get ready to tweet or twit or whatever you do. You ready? Here goes. Put it on record that on January 17^th, Todd Blair said this… “That God…He’s pretty smart.” That’s it. That’s the tweet and I stand by it. He is. But hear me out.

God’s way is perfect. His way of living is perfect. His way of dying is perfect. His way of -----------fill in the blank is perfect. Want peace? Get closer to God. Want joy? Get closer to God. Want a better marriage? Closer to God. Wondering what to do next? Closer to God. Afraid to die? Get closer to God. Afraid to live? Closer to Him. Afraid of the virus? Afraid of the Democrats? Afraid of spiders or snakes, get closer to God. Even if you are afraid of the consequences of your own actions. Get closer to God and just watch Him give you everything you need. It’s the stinking secret to all of life!

Paul is writing from jail, punished for preaching the Gospel. It’s not right. It’s not fair. His rights have been taken away. His life, liberty and pursuit of happiness has been taken away. If anybody had the right to cry, cuss and complain, it was this man. If anybody had reason to want to get out of this life and go to Heaven, it was him but look what he says.

21For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23I am torn between the two.

What does it mean “to live is Christ?” We know what it means to die and go to Heaven, that is gain but what does it look like for your life to be about Christ? Paul tells us what it means in verse 22. He says it will mean fruitful labor. Now, for some of you, when I say “fruitful labor” your mind goes to one of a few places, most of which don’t sound very fun. Fruitful labor to you might sound like a lot of work. It sounds like digging a garden or planting a tree, which can be hard to do and tiring.

It may sound like something very lofty and “spiritual”, things that only us highly paid and highly trained professional ministers can do. 😊 And fruitful labor may include some of those kinds of things but it also includes things like being a mother. I can’t do that. I can’t imagine how hard it is to be a mother these days but that is exactly what fruitful labor might look like. I love hearing stories about how Harlee or Kylie or one of the other little girls in our church starts repeating something they learned in Sunday School or prays on her own or sings a Christian song while her mama drives down the road. That doesn’t happen by accident. That is a mother investing in her child and it is a fruitful labor. Henry James said, “The best use for your life is to invest it in something that will outlast it.” A mother or father is in perfect position to invest in fruitful labor in their child.

Fruitful labor may also show up in your giving. And I hear ya. “Oh, there he goes again, Ethyl, talking about money! That’s all he cares about.” Whatever. You know better.  Do you think our church is involved with any fruitful labor? Then be a part of it by giving. If you don’t think so, then give to the church down the street that you think is doing fruitful labor. I don’t care. I just want your life to look like Paul’s as he lived for Christ.

Most of you know that our church has been called to minister specifically to the poor, the addicted and the incarcerated. That’s a pretty fruitful area. It can be hard though. We are not set up to provide the poor with money or the addicted with professional counseling. We have no sway with the judges or the courts to be able to get somebody out of jail.

We do have a food pantry that is available and stocked up with all kinds of good stuff. We don’t promote it and sometimes it might go a week or two with nobody taking advantage of it. But every time it gets used by either a church member or non-church member, it is showing the love of Jesus in a way that is fruitful labor. Maybe you would like to donate a few cans or some meat or bread that can be frozen. That’s fruitful labor right there.

Something else we do is send a copy of my sermons to every person on the jail ministry list every week. Right now, there are over fifty people on that list. I always tell them that this will not be the greatest thing you have ever read but it is truth and the Gospel is in there and if nothing else, it’s something to read. Think that’s fruitful? Between that and visiting in the jails when we can, this has grown from one person several years ago to all these names on this list and every name is a person, a person that is probably struggling in a way you might not can imagine.

Now, way more people read this message than hear it and you can be part of this fruitful labor if you want. The first and best thing you can do is write to one of these men or women and just give them a little note of encouragement. It doesn’t have to be long. Just a note saying you are praying for them and maybe your favorite verse or whatever God leads you to say. Use the church address if you are worried about something but please do that. It will make all the difference for somebody and will be exactly what Paul was talking about when he said, “fruitful labor.”

Another thing you can do if you want to be part of this ministry is just donate some stamps or envelopes or printer ink. We go through a lot of that with fifty people every week as you can imagine. Do me a favor and donate the stamps or envelopes and not the money towards it. Make it a fruitful labor for yourself and be rewarded accordingly.

One other way you can be involved in fruitful labor is to spread the Good News of Jesus. That may be the ultimate way and the most important way to produce fruitful labor. Don’t answer out loud but just think to yourself, when was the last time you said the name of Jesus outside the walls of this building?

Here’s a crazy idea. With the political climate like it is right now, you have a choice when you go on social media. You can prove what an idiot somebody is for believing how they do with charts and graphs and quotes. You can prove that they are a hypocrite and a brain-dead moron by just citing some stats you got off Google.

Or…you could give your personal testimony on Facebook or Twitter or whatever the flavor of the month website is nowadays. How about telling how God has healed you physically, mentally or spiritually? How about posting that you are praying for Trump and Pence AND Biden and Harris to have a life-changing relationship with God through His Son Jesus, if they haven’t already?

How about telling the world what it means to you to have that relationship? There are a million things wrong with social media these days but instead of adding to the long list of things that don’t bring peace, how about doing some fruitful labor like Paul talks about here and showing your flood of love within the banks of knowledge and discernment like we learned last week?

Paul, who was in prison for preaching the Gospel when he wrote this and had been beaten and stoned and blown up by bombs and all that other stuff, would say, “Hmm, that sounds pretty easy to me!” And it is literally the secret to life AND the secret to death. Just get closer to God. Spend more time seeking Him and His righteousness and less time worrying and complaining and just watch as God gives you peace and joy (calm delight) in this life and as you come to the end of your life.

I used to read a blog a few years ago written by a guy was a nurse. He had been in the military for years, got out and went into nursing and I read it just because he could tell a good story. As far as I know, he wasn’t a Christian. He never wrote anything about it but he once wrote about how he knew people had real faith or not. From combat in the military to seeing people in the ICU, he had seen a lot of death and he said he could always tell how a person really believed by how they died and how their family handled it when they died.

He said it was easy to tell because the ones without faith (that’s how he put it) resisted and fought it and struggled and screamed and cried and so did their families. But he said the ones with faith were usually calm and peaceful as were their families.

There will always be grief when a loved one dies. That’s natural and there is nothing wrong with that. We miss them when they are gone but for a believer, we know we will see them again soon and we ought to be even a little bit jealous because they are now enjoying all the treasures of Heaven.

But until then, we can have peace and joy in this life and help others to have it as well. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me. How about you? Do you know for sure that when you die, you will go to Heaven? It has nothing to do with how good you are although as a Christian, you should be known for your fruitful labor. It doesn’t have anything to do with your parents or your country. Just because you were raised in a Christian country and a Christian home doesn’t make you a Christian.

The only thing that makes any difference is if you have truly trusted in Jesus to be your Savior and allowed Him to change your life. He is the only way to Heaven. Ask Him for forgiveness today and repent of your sins and rejoice in this life just like Paul did. Do it right now as we pray.

 

 

Joy – Part 2 – Phil. 1:9-11

The year 2020 went out screaming that it was the worst year ever on record for some of us. 2021 walked in and, at six days old, said, “Just watch this!” For me personally, Satan almost always attacks me with what I am preaching right before or right after I preach it. Last Sunday we started a sermon series on how to have joy from the book of Philippians and this past week my joy was seriously tested.

As I read the online reports and saw the pictures of what was happening in our nation’s capitol, it made me sad. It made me mad. We are all frustrated. We are confused. We want truth and it seems like it is nowhere to be found. And if your joy and peace are anchored to any politician or political party, it was a bad week for you.

For others, you may trust in God but you don’t understand how He could allow such things to happen. You lost your joy this week thinking that God is either not powerful enough to stop such things or maybe that He just doesn’t care. Either way, your joy and peace are not really in God but in your understanding of God and it was a bad week for you.

God never says that if you try hard enough you will understand Him and then you will have joy and peace. In fact, He says that His ways are above our ways and His thoughts are above our thoughts. (Isaiah 55:9) He never says to understand Him. He only says to trust Him. Romans 15:13 says, “May God fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him.” God is still on the throne. He is still sovereign. He is still just and righteous and the King of all kings, politicians, republicans, democrats, Antifa, BLM, Planned Parenthood, the Klan and is still King of your joy IF you have a personal relationship with Him through His Son Jesus.

But if you have a relationship with Him, you will have joy and do you know what will happen if you truly have joy? You will show love. You will show agape love. What is agape love? Agape love is love no matter what. No matter what happens, what you say or what you do, I choose to love you. That is agape love. It is the love God has for us and should be the love we have for Him and for other people.

As Christians and members of the bride of Christ in this church, we are encouraged by Paul the Apostle to have love and the right kind of love focused in the right way. If you say you have a relationship with Him and you say you have joy then you will show your love correctly and abundantly and with a purpose. That’s what Paul tells us in Philippians 1:9-11. Turn there in your Bibles and follow along if you would please. Notice I said “please.” That’s because I love you. 😊

As we talked about last week, Paul loved this little church in Philippi. They had supported him when no other church did and, no doubt, had supported him financially and physically as well as spiritually in prayer. That’s what people do who love each other. They support each other in every way including and most importantly in prayer. In prayer, we have all the power of God Himself but as most of you know, there is a right way to pray.

This past week, I heard a song written by a man named Jaron Lowenstein. It’s a very pretty song and maybe some of you might want it played at your wedding or your funeral. It’s called “Pray For You.” The words go like this: I haven't been to church
Since I don't remember when
Things were going great 'til they fell apart again
So I listened to the preacher as he told me what to do
He said you can't go hatin' others
Who have done wrong to you
Sometimes we get angry, but we must not condemn
Let the good Lord do his job, you just pray for them

Now, here’s the chorus: I pray your brakes go out runnin' down a hill
I pray a flower pot falls from a window sill
And knocks you in the head like I'd like to

I pray your birthday comes and nobody calls
I pray you're flyin' high when your engine stalls
I pray all your dreams never come true
Just know wherever you are, honey, I pray for you

It goes on like that for a while but you get the drift. What’s wrong with that kind of prayer? It’s not based on agape love, is it? Some of you are looking that song up right now on your phones so you can send it to your ex. Don’t do that. At least not during church. And don’t say your preacher told you about it either. All that would go against what Paul is telling us to do in Philippians 1:9-11. Let’s read that right now. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-to the glory and praise of God.

Now, some of you are thinking just what Peter was thinking when he wrote in 2 Peter 3:16 that some of what Paul wrote was hard to understand. I thought the same thing the first few times I read it but I have some good commentaries and I listened to some other good preachers about this and it helped me and blessed me. Maybe you will get something out of it as we go.

Paul has just told the church in Philippi in his opening that he has joy when he thinks of them and prays for them and he tells them how to have joy so it is appropriate that he tell them how he is praying for them. I find it interesting that nowhere is it recorded that Paul ever prayed for anybody’s physical problems. I’m sure he prayed for healing and finances and for God to help people physically, but it’s not recorded. Paul doesn’t write about that. He writes about what is most important and for the Philippians, he prayed for their love and the original word he uses is agape. Do you see that in verse 9?

The first thing about their love that Paul mentions that he is praying for is that their love will abound or grow and get bigger. He wants them to have more of it. Now, do you think Paul wants them to have more love for him? Eh, could be but I don’t think that really sounds like Paul plus we know he is already just almost giddy about their love and support for him. That’s part of what gives him such joy.

Do you think Paul is praying that their love for other people outside the church would grow? That could very well be. That sounds like something Jesus would say so that may be part of it. Maybe you think Paul is saying he prays their love toward God would abound more and more. We all need that. Our love for God is something that definitely keeps us from sin. That would be a good prayer. Or maybe Paul is praying that their love grows for each other in the church. Or maybe it is all the above. I honestly don’t know how he meant it specifically and at first that bothered me.

But Paul is praying here for their love to abound. Think tsunami, tidal wave. All the love of God poured out into them and spilling over so that we can love God with all our hearts and our neighbors as ourselves as Jesus said in Matthew 22. So, that means we just love everybody and everything and every occasion and every situation, right? Not so much. Let’s continue reading that verse.

Paul said, “that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.” Knowledge and depth of insight. Those are the parameters, the boundaries of our love. If our love is a flood, these are the banks of the river that contain the flood. Without banks, the flood would be dangerous. It needs some boundaries and Paul is saying he is praying for these to be the boundaries. I heard one preacher say, “Don’t let your agape get sloppy.” But what does it mean to abound in knowledge and insight?

That word “knowledge” means more than just to know something a little bit. It means to know it better, to know it well. And where does true knowledge come from? Let me give you a hint about where knowledge comes from by telling you that I did some research (I googled it of course) and did you “know” there are at least 64 different genders? Oh yea. According to the internet (also known as the world) there are more than just boys and girls. The knowledge of the world says you might be “cisgender, binary, Gender nonconforming, graygender, intergender” and a host of others that give me a headache to read. That knowledge comes from the mind of a person or group of people and it may make sense to some people but God said in Genesis, “I made ‘em male and female.”

Scripture is the source of all true knowledge. Paul is praying they will have scriptural knowledge in their love. That is one bank of our flowing love. The other bank is depth of insight or discernment. Some translations say “judgment.” That word discernment means perception or the right application of biblical knowledge.

Let me give you an example. When you think of Mother Teresa, what do you think of? You think of love and caring and selflessness, right? Well, in 1994, Mother Teresa was the keynote speaker at the National Day of Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC. All the bigwigs were there. President Clinton sat next to Vice-President Al Gore. All kinds of political muckety-mucks were there. It was quite the occasion. Eighty-three-year-old Mother Teresa was helped up to the podium from her wheelchair and at four feet, six inches, she was not a very commanding figure…until she started talking. With great knowledge and discernment, Mother Teresa lit into the American leaders for their stance on abortion. Looking right at the president and vp, she said, “If we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill each other?” She went on to say, “Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love but to use any violence to get what they want.” Then she looked at the cameras and pleaded with pregnant women that might be watching. She said, “Please don’t kill the child. I want the child. Please give me the child. I want it. I will care for it.”

That is a flood of love within the boundaries of knowledge and discernment just like Paul was praying for. She knew what was truth and she knew how to apply that truth. May we be more like her in that way. But if you have a little kid inside your mind like I do that is constantly asking, “Why?” well Paul answers that question in verse 10. Why did Paul pray for such things for that church and why should this church want to have knowledge and discernment in their love?

Paul says he wants us to have that so that you (we) may be able to discern what is best. To discern what is best here means to thoroughly examine the expression of our love in light of God’s Word. Let me give you a couple of illustrations to help you understand what Paul is praying for here. If you give your child a gift, you give it out of love, right? You want your kid to have good things, even fun things. Nothing wrong with that. That is an appropriate expression of your love. It is biblically based and even how God feels about you as His child. But what if your child takes that new toy and throws it as hard as he can at your face? Are you going to let him get away with that? Of course not. Sometimes a spanking is a great expression of your love because you want your child to not be a freak when he grows up, right? That can be hard to do but it is often necessary.

Now, what if you woke up in the middle of the night to glass breaking? You go downstairs and there is a masked man wandering through your living room. Do you say, “Well, I don’t know who you are but the Bible says I have to love everybody so the big screen is over there. Here’s my wallet. Try not to scratch my car when you drive it off, okay?” Of course not! In fact, Jesus said in Matthew 24, “If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.” Sometimes appropriately expressing your love means doing whatever it takes to protect your family and your life or the life of others. But that takes some amount of biblical knowledge and insight to know where to draw the line.

We need discernment to know what the Bible says and how to express our love correctly because sometimes our feelings will take us in the wrong direction. The world will almost always take us in the wrong direction. Sometimes love may be too easy to show like giving too many gifts and sometimes showing love may be hard to do. So, Paul prays that we will know and apply that knowledge correctly.

Now, wait a minute. I hear that little kid in my head asking “Why?” again so let’s go back to verse 10 and read the rest of it along with verse 11. He wants us to have wisdom and insight when showing our love so that we may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-to the glory and praise of God. “Pure and blameless.” Okay, I could give you the Greek words and we could joke about that and then I could give you some illustrations of what it means to be pure and blameless but I think we all have a pretty good handle on their meanings, right? If not, you can bring it up tonight and we will talk about it then. Due to time constraints, I want to get on to some more really good stuff in this passage. Not that being pure and blameless aren’t really good. That is part of why Paul is praying for their love to grow so that they could be pure and blameless.

But look at verse 11 again and let’s see another reason and then what that leads to. It won’t take long. I promise. Again, Paul is praying that their love will grow like a tidal wave but within the banks of biblical knowledge and discernment. When that happens, they will be pure and blameless in this life and the next and when we are pure and blameless, we will also be filled with the fruit of righteousness.

When you hear of fruit in the New Testament, what do you think of? If you think of the Fruit of the Spirit, you are on the right track. The Fruit of the Spirit is the proof that God is in you and you are in God and He gives you fruit that shows your good works. And those good works are not for our glory but for His. It’s the same basic thought here. When you love people in the right way and your love is manifested in the right way, the biblical way, you will be pure and blameless and will do good works. When you love abundantly, even when it is hard to do, you will prove it with good works towards those you love and God will get the glory and you will have been obedient.

And then…and then…(but wait, there’s more!) and then when you are obedient to God, do you know what that leads to? “I got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart! Down in my heart!” Yes! Loving people that don’t love you back or can’t do anything for you ultimately brings you joy, that calm delight that allows you to go through difficulties without turning to booze or pills or anything else with bad side effects.

Do you want joy? Of course you do. But there is only one way to true joy and that is through obedience to God. That is what Paul is praying for here for this church in Philippi and what I am praying for Christ Fellowship. We have joy in our lives because of what God has done for us and so it ought to show in our love for other people. It ought to be a tsunami of love based correctly on scripture that pours out of us appropriately.

It may mean that we give gifts to little kids all over the world through our Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes or it may also be an expression of love that says, “I’m done supporting any politician that approves of abortion.” God calls that murder and I will stand against it. Your expression of love may mean to stand up against the homosexual lifestyle. God calls that an abomination and so we stand against it.

All of that can be tricky to do though. You can turn people away from you and God by doing that so that is why Paul says we need discernment. But ultimately, we want to do what God tells us to do in the way He tells us to do it and when He says it needs to be done. When we do that, we are obedient to Him and He rewards us with joy. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me!

People search for joy and peace in every imaginable way. Sometimes there is temporary joy when things are going well and sometimes you can find peace when there are no battles to fight but if you want true, lasting joy and peace when the world is on fire and war is raging then you have to be obedient to God and that starts with understanding that we are all sinners as it says in Romans 3:23. Romans 6:23 goes on to say that what we deserve for that sin is eternal death in Hell separated from God and everybody else. That’s bad news.

But the good news is that God loved you so much that He sent His Son to die in your place (John 3:16) and all you have to do is truly believe that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and no man gets to the Father but through Him (John 14:6). Ask God for forgiveness of your sins and repent of those sins and He will forgive you (1 John 1:9). Do that right now as we pray.

“Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in my Heart” – Philippians 1

Let’s talk about joy for a few minutes. How would you define joy? Webster defined joy as “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires.” Anybody have a problem with that definition? He goes on to say it includes “to experience great pleasure or delight.” I like that second part better because the joy that the Bible talks about is rarely found by success or good fortune, at least as the world would define success and good fortune.

Men have pursued joy in every avenue imaginable. Some have successfully found it while others have not. Perhaps it would be easier to describe where joy cannot be found:

Not in Unbelief -- Voltaire was an infidel of the most pronounced type. He wrote: "I wish I had never been born."
Not in Pleasure -- Lord Byron lived a life of pleasure if anyone did. He wrote: "The worm, the canker, and grief are mine alone."
Not in Money -- Jay Gould, the American millionaire, had plenty of that. When dying, he said: "I suppose I am the most miserable man on earth."
Not in Position and Fame -- Lord Beaconsfield enjoyed more than his share of both. He wrote: "Youth is a mistake; manhood a struggle; old age a regret."
Not in Military Glory -- Alexander the Great conquered the known world in his day. Having done so, he wept in his tent, before he said, "There are no more worlds to conquer."

Where then is real joy found? -- the answer is simple, in Christ alone. (The Bible Friend, Turning Point, May, 1993.)

All you have to do is look at any celebrity to know that living that drugs, sex and rock n roll lifestyle doesn’t have anything to do with having joy or happiness. Now, let me ask a question. Does God want you to have joy? Yes, He does. Does God want you to be happy? Yes, He does. I will say that He is more concerned with your holiness than your happiness but He does want you to be happy.

Now, I can sum up the whole message this morning by saying that holiness is the key to joyfulness because joyfulness is anchored in the unchanging God. Nothing wrong with happiness but it is anchored to changing events and circumstances. It comes and goes whereas joy is a gift that we accept from God. That sums up not just the message for this morning but pretty much the whole book of Philippians. So, go home. Read Philippians and I’ll see you in a couple of months when it’s warmer. Thanks for coming.

No? You’re not just going to take my word for it? Crazy. Okay then, let’s turn to the absolutely beautiful little book of Philippians and let’s take Paul’s word for it because Paul takes God’s word for it so we know it’s true.

I was reading some W.A. Criswell this week and he said Philippians is the most beautiful book in all the Bible. That’s big talk! But it’s not just beautiful. It’s also a powerful book. There are incredible truths found here. It is one of my go-to books when I or anybody else have any kind of struggle. There is practical help here and if we are going to have revival in our lives and in our church then we need to inhale this book.

I want to read just the first six verses of chapter one this morning. You would be amazed at how many sermons, devotionals and even whole books have been written on just the first verse. It may seem like just a familiar greeting but there is more to it than that. I don’t know how long this sermon series is going to last. We could camp out here for a while and that’s okay with me. It’s not like any of us have too much joy in our lives, right?

Before I read that, you need to know about Paul’s relationship with this church in Philippi. This is the first church he planted in Europe and he was actually trying to get to Rome to preach there but didn’t make it as a preacher. He did make it later as a prisoner but that’s another story. We read about it Acts chapter 16 that the Spirit of God didn’t let him go everywhere he wanted to but Paul had a dream one night of a Macedonian man begging him for help so they wound up going there. Macedonia is where Philippi was and that’s where Paul met Lydia and then he got thrown in jail. That’s where it says that about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. (Acts 16:25) You remember that story. That was in Philippi.

You also remember that an earthquake shook the place and the guard thought everybody was going to escape and was about to kill himself but Paul witnessed to him and he and his family became believers. So, that first church in Philippi started with Lydia and a few others along with that guard and his family. Not a lot of people but they evidently loved Paul and had sent a man named Epaphroditus to give Paul a gift when they heard he was in jail. They also supported him several other times evidently, so they were near and dear to Paul’s heart.

So, Paul writes them this beautiful love letter. Unlike most of his other letters, this one doesn’t slam them for doing anything wrong. It is just full of love and joy and happiness plus practical advice for how to keep that love and joy. Let’s (finally) read Philippians 1:1-6 and see how he starts.

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all God's holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons: 2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the LORD Jesus Christ. 3I thank my God every time I remember you. 4In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Let’s stop right there. That’s plenty for us this morning. As usual, Paul says more in a couple of sentences than most of us will say in a lifetime. I want to dissect this small passage and see what kind of good stuff we can find and the first thing to look at is Paul’s title for himself and Timothy. Do you see it? He says they are servants.

Oh, that’s so sad. They are servants. Too bad for them, right? Well, actually, not really. In fact, Paul is about to start a letter that talks a lot about joy and he tells us right off the bat that he is a subject matter expert. When it comes to joy, Paul is a professor. He knows all about joy because he is a servant.

That word that Paul uses there in the Greek is “doulos” (doo-los) and it literally means to be a bond-servant or bond-slave. Paul uses a similar word at the end of verse one when he is addressing the deacons. That word for deacon is “diakonos” and it also means servant or slave. Did you know that? Some people want to be deacons in the church because they think it will give them some kind of power or say about what happens in the church but the word means to be a slave.

But there is a slight difference between “doulos” and “diakonos.” I know, some of you are tired of learning all these new words. We learned some Latin last week and some Hebrew on Christmas Eve and now we’re learning Greek and you have had enough. We’re doing pretty good for folks that don’t even speak that there English so goodly, right? I promise there’s no test and this is something that will help you so hear me out.

A “doulos” like Paul said he and Timothy were was known for their relationship to the master. The “diakonos” (deacons) were known for their relationship to their work. Do you see the difference? When the king wanted to throw a party, he called for the doulos and the doulos would invite all the friends. When the trash needed to be taken out after the party, the king would call the diakonos.

The doulos had a relationship to the king and were important to the king. They were slaves who did what they were told but they were known for their relationship. The diakonos were just lowly slaves. Make sense? (#1401 Strong’s Concordance) Paul was able to say gladly that he was a doulos. He was a slave who had a relationship to the King and that brought him joy.

Okay, let’s move on. Don’t forget about being a doulos though. We will talk about it again. Paul says in verse 2, “Grace and peace to you.” That’s a common greeting for Paul. He says that a lot in his letters. It is a combination of greetings. The Greeks would greet each other with the word “grace” and the Hebrew people would greet each other with the word “peace.” I’ll save you the original words since I can’t pronounce them anyway. But Paul combines them into one greeting to show unity but also as one commentator says to show that they should have the joy of knowing God as Father (that’s grace) and the peace of being reconciled to God and other men. So, there is joy implied even in his greeting.

Verse 3 is also a regular phrase in Paul’s openings when he writes. He says, “I thank my God every time I remember you” in almost every letter but look at verse 4. “In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy.” That’s a special saying just for the church in Philippi. Paul had a huge prayer list and I’m sure he prayed for all the churches he helped start but this one he says he prays with joy.

I just picture Paul sitting down to write the church in Philippi with a smile on his face as opposed to writing some of the other churches. I picture him starting out his first letter to the Corinthians by saying, “What in the world are you idiots doing?” and then saying, “No, I can’t say that” and scratching it out. But the Philippian church brought him joy. Want to know why? He tells us in the very next verse. Look at verse 5. “because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” By supporting Paul, they were partners with him in spreading the Gospel, the Good News about Jesus.

With this virus spreading like it is, a lot of people are choosing not to come to church. I get it. I understand. If you have underlying conditions especially, I understand wanting to quarantine away from other people. If you are not feeling well or you have a fever, please stay home. That’s not something that we want to partner with you in. But there is a problem with staying away from church. Some of you know what I am talking about. You miss out on the joy of partnering with other people in the Good News.

Paul uses the word “koinonia” which is the word we translate partnership or fellowship. It means to share…everything. Today as we gather here, we are sharing our time, our troubles, our support, our cares, our money, our love and our lives. We share everything when we meet here with like-minded people and there is such joy in that! So, don’t be surprised when you miss a Sunday or two and start to feel bummed out. That is a natural by-product of not having koinonia with this family of believers.

Paul wrote this letter with the joy that comes from knowing this church was partnering with him in sharing the Good News. I assume they had sent him some money but I also assume Paul knew they were praying for him and were talking well of him and wanted him to know they loved him. I can tell you for a fact that a minister who has that has great joy and will never feel overwhelmed even when things are overwhelming. There is great joy with that kind of partnership.

So far, Paul has said he is a servant…partnering with other servants and he has joy when he thinks about them and their partnership. Now I want you to see something that can’t really be seen by us English-speakers in verse 6. Paul says he is confident of this “that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” This is Paul’s subtle way of telling them the secret to having joy. It was subtle even for them speaking Greek. The word he uses for confident means super-duper confident but that’s not the interesting part of this.

When Paul says He who began a good work…that good work is not just their salvation. It includes that but it also means their lives, their holiness, their sanctification and their ministries. Paul knows that God started that work in them and will not give up or quit or leave them until Jesus comes back to get them and / or us.

But here is the double secret cool and interesting part. Paul uses words here that are technical words to describe beginning and ending a sacrifice. Even in pagan religions, there was a specific way to start and a specific way to end the sacrifice and Paul uses those words here to describe the lives of these Philippian Christians. He says that God started their spiritual lives as a sacrifice and will end their lives at the end of the sacrifice.

Paul is seeing the life of every Christian as a sacrifice ready to be offered to Jesus. It is the same picture he is drawing when he urges the Romans to present their bodies as living sacrifices, holy and presentable to God in Romans 12:1. When you are living your life as a sacrifice to God day in and day out, do you know what the world thinks? The world thinks, “Poor guy! He is missing out on so much. I bet he never has any fun. He’s probably miserable being all religious like that.”

The world – you know, the geniuses that think getting more stuff and more drunk and more sex and more power is going to make them happy until they finally commit suicide – those people feel sorry for you when you live your life as a sacrifice to God but do you know what the truth is? The truth – as comes from the professor of joy himself – is that living a life of sacrifice to God is THE way to joy.

One year ago we had a special evening service and we invited our partners at Cates Street Baptist and some others to join us for a special night of encouragement. Some of you remember that. It was a lot of fun but the one thing I remember about that was our definition of joy. The definition of joy that kept coming up was “a calm delight.” When the doctor gives you bad news, how would you like to genuinely respond with calm delight? When your boss fires you, how would you like to genuinely respond with calm delight? When you world crashes in and nothing goes as planned, how would you like to genuinely respond with calm delight? You can!

You can have joy in this nasty old life when your life is being lived as a sacrifice to God. Joy comes from knowing the King, King Jesus, and being obedient to Him, living your life like it is not your own because it is not. If you call yourself a Christian then you have been bought with a price. You have been redeemed but that does not mean you are free to do what you want. Not at all. You can but you will not have joy and your happiness will be short-lived. I promise you because I have been there.

Joy only comes from being obedient. It is a gift from God that we choose to accept but it is only there for us to choose as a by-product of obedience. God wants you to have it. He wants you to be joyful. C.S. Lewis said, “Joy is the serious business of Heaven.” Paul knew how to have joy. He said in chapter four of this book that he could be content in whatever circumstance he was in. “Content” sounds a lot like calm delight, doesn’t it?

Paul, Mr. Content, the professor of joy said he was a slave to Jesus. He said he had joy when he thought of the other slaves he partnered with and he tells us here how to have joy – calm delight – as well.

What is God telling you to do? Is it your language? Is it your ministry? Is it your relaxation time? Is he telling you to say the name of Jesus to a co-worker? What is He telling you to do? Maybe He wants you to start something or stop something or change something or do something brand new. I don’t know but if you want to have joy in this life especially when the difficult times comes, you better be obedient.

That starts with giving your life to Him for forgiveness of all your many sins and for your salvation. It means turning away from that lifestyle and maybe even the people in that lifestyle and repenting. Trust Him. Believe Him. Know Him and know joy and peace and wisdom in this life and so much more plus all the good things that the Father has for Jesus can be yours to share as well in Heaven. Do that right now as we pray.