To Live Is Christ Series

“TO LIVE IS CHRIST” Phil. 1:19-30

FBCF – 5/4/25

Jon Daniels

INTRO – How many of you here today want to have more joy in your life? Seems to be a scarce commodity these days. So many things work against us to steal our joy – stress/anxiety, burdens we carry, uncertainty in our nation/world, damaged/broken relationships, our inability to conquer our besetting sins or addictions. We just feel like we can’t get a handle on our lives sometimes & it’s causing the joy in our hearts & lives to diminish. We can’t completely lose our joy b/c it is a part of the fruit of the Spirit that was deposited in our lives the moment we gave our lives to Christ. But we can certainly find ourselves in circumstances that can cause the experience of that joy to be less than exceptional.

Walk out to your car/truck in the AM. Crank it up. Lights on your dashboard all go off except for one – the low tire pressure indicator light. You’ve got a leak. Maybe picked up a nail somewhere & it was fine for a while. The leak was imperceptible for a long time. But now it’s starting to get a little more serious. Need to do something about it before you end up w/ a flat tire at a very inconvenient time. Or worse, have a blowout going down the road that could lead to an accident that could injure/kill you & maybe others.

That’s what many of us are experiencing right now in our lives. We’ve got a “joy leak.” Didn’t notice it for a long time. But now we’ve started noticing some symptoms that the joy is slowly seeping out of our lives. The warning light has been illuminated on the dashboard of our lives, & it’s time to do something before we have a tragic blowout in our lives.

Today, we are starting a series from the book of Philippians entitled, “Living for Jesus.” Philippians is the NT book of JOY – main theme of this letter is joy. Tony Evans: “Joy consists of internal stability in spite of external circumstances.” (The Tony Evans Bible Commentary, p. 1236). Crazy thing is that Paul wrote this from a prison cell around AD 62, 2-3 yrs before he was martyred. What a testimony – that you can experience the joy of the Lord even in a prison cell.

EXPLANATION – Philippians 1:19-30 (p. 980)

“Dynamite comes in small packages.” In my Bible, this book takes up less that 3 pages. Some of most well-known & well-loved Bible verses are found in this book:

- 1:3 – “I thank my God every time I remember you.”

- 1:6 – “He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.”

- 1:21 – “For to me to live is Christ & to die is gain.”

- 2:10-11 – “…at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven & on earth & under the earth, & every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”

- 3:13-14 – “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

- 4:4 – “Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say it again, rejoice.”

- 4:6-7 – “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer & supplication w/ thanksgiving, let your requests be made know unto God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts & minds in Christ Jesus.”

- 4:8 – “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if anything is excellent or worthy of praise, think about these things.”

- 4:13 – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

- 4:19 – “And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

Awesome verses that are full of truths that we build our theology on & build our lives on. Verses you need to memorize & meditate on & live out in your life as a Christ-follower. Philippians is jam-packed w/ powerful, practical, purposeful teachings for the Christian life.

And woven throughout all the principles found in this book is the theme of joy. The word “joy” or some form of it is found some 16 times. And the word “joy” itself gives us the perfect formula for finding true joy in this life is to keep your priorities right: Jesus – Others – You

APPLICATION – We live in joy when we live for Christ.

3 components of living in joy when we live for Christ: