“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.