Beware Series

Technicolor Joy: Philippians 3:1-3

Pastor Jefferson M. Williams

Chenoa Baptist Church

07-30-2023

Liz’s Question

Her name was Liz. She was in her early 20s and I worked with her at Red Lobster. She came to me at the end of her shift crying and asked if she could talk to me in the back.

When I got back there, most of the waitstaff had congregated around Liz to try to see what was going on.

She looked me straight in the eye and said, “Jeff, Am I going to hell because I have short hair?”

I felt my blood pressure go through the roof. I knew what had happened. There were two young guys who were in a local Bible college that was incredibly legalistic.

Liz said that one of them told her that she was going to hell because she had short hair. She wanted to know what I thought. Everyone around us got very quiet and I was able to tell the Gospel love story.

I explained that no one goes to hell because of their hair. God wanted her heart. I took a breath and said, “For God so loved Liz, that He gave His only Son, that if she would put her faith in Him for the forgiveness of sins, she would never have to worry about hell, but live with God in heaven as a part of his forever family.

I prayed with her and then went and found one of the young legalists and told him that if he ever said anything like that to Liz again I would punch him in the throat…in Jesus’ name!

Remember, it’s Jesus + Nothing = Everything!

It’s not Jesus + short hair or Jesus + baptism or Jesus + speaking in tongues or Jesus + the “correct” translation of the Bible.

We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.

But the Jesus + people are everywhere and their religion is not one of freedom but of slavery.

Video of guy screaming about beards.

In today’s verses, Paul is going to give the Philippians a command and a warning and contrast real Christianity with false Christianity.

Turn in your Bible to Philippians 3.

Prayer

Joy

“Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.”

When Paul writes “finally,” you might think that it signals the end of the letter. But there are two more chapters to go.

Is this a “pastor finally?” At the church we attended in Mississippi, the pastor had been going for almost an hour when he said, “And finally.” Some actually let out a loud sigh because they knew that meant he wasn’t really done.

This is better translated, as “as to the rest” or “furthermore.”

And what does Paul command? He commands the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord! The verb tense means to go on constantly rejoicing. And it’s plural.

The word joy, rejoice, or glad is used 326 times in the Bible making it one of the major themes.

In John, joy comes from answered prayer.

In Acts, joy comes with the advance of the Gospel.

In Romans, the kingdom of God is joy.

In Galatians, joy is a fruit of the Spirit.

In Colossians, we can have joy in all affliction.

In I Peter, we are filled with joy.

In James, when we know the truth we find joy.

In I John, we find joy in Christian fellowship

In Revelation, we will experience joy through eternity.

Walter Hanson wrote:

“Like a mighty river surging through solid rock, joy flows from this letter to the suffering community of believers in Philippi giving them love for one another and the presence of God.”

Paul uses the word joy, rejoice, or glad sixteen times. We need to distinguish joy from happiness.

Happiness is dependent on circumstances. When everything is going well, we are happy. When they are not, we are unhappy.

The kind of joy Paul is discussing here is very different from happiness. This is contentedness, a deep-seated joy in believing the Gospel.

Philip Ryken writes:

“Joy is the exhilaration of the heart that comes from being right with God.”

In other words, this joy comes from Paul’s relationship with Jesus Christ:

“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (I Peter 1:8-9)

Billy Sunday, the early 20th-century baseball star turned evangelist, said,

“The trouble with most men is that they have just enough religion to make them miserable. If there is no joy in your Christianity, you might have a leak!”